School Board Shuffle; Board Selects New President

An annual organizational meeting preceded the Huron Valley Schools Board of Education meeting Thursday night, during which the board selected a new president, vice president, secretary and treasurer from its  existing members. All board members were present for the meeting, which was held at .

Only one person from the board was nominated for each position, so all nominees ran unopposed; however, each still needed a majority of the board’s vote in order to win the position. 

All board members agreed on all nominees with the exception of Trustee John Knight, who voted “no” for each. Regardless of the one dissenting vote, each motion carried. The new officers are:

• President — Sean Carlson
• Vice president — Rebecca Walsh
• Secretary — Bonnie Brown
• Treasurer — Lindsay Cotter 

The new appointments were effective immediately, and Carlson led the rest of the night’s agenda. 

Charles Dittmar, who became board president after board member Lisa Blackwell from that position in early March, said he had sought the support of the board to continue in as president and was disappointed to find that he did not receive enough backing. 

According to Dittmar, the board was not confident that his ideas fell closely enough in line with Superintendent Jackie Johnston’s priorities for the district.

Dittmar stated that he believes his voting against the recent school closings may have contributed to members questioning his fiscal management. He said his apprehension in supporting the closures was rooted in the “process and veracity of information provided,” and not in the need for closure. “I will not apologize for this,” he said. 

After the officers were chosen, the board went on to pass the rest of the organizational items on the agenda and move into the regular Board of Education meeting. 

Keeping with the recent trend of recognitions at meetings, the board called special attention to the following accomplishments:

• Knight was recognized for 20 years of service on the board.
• Johnston was recognized as being an outstanding alumna of Oakland Community College.
• Executive Administrative Assistant Mary Chynoweth was recognized for her completion of a rigorous business office specialist certification.
• Officer Mike Simsack, the Lakeland High School police liaison, was presented with a Make a Difference Award for his valued work at LHS. “Mike is purely top-notch," Principal Bob Behnke said. "He’s truly dedicated to maintaining safety and security in the building. It’s the little things he does … that has earned him the utmost respect from staff and students.” 

During the public speaking portion of the meeting, Huron Valley Education Association President Mike MacGregor honored the 15 teachers who will be retiring this year. MacGregor named each teacher on the all-female list and thanked them for their years of service to Huron Valley students. 

All consent agenda items and regular agenda items were unanimously passed by the board.