Flint Township View

Board sets organization plans for coming school year





FLINT TWP. —Under the old school election schedule, any new school board members would have been elected last month and ready to be sworn in July 18 at Carman- Ainsworth’s annual July reorganization meeting.

Instead, the board made tentative plans to hold another organization meeting in January should new board members be elected. The change is due to a new state law, effective Jan. 1 of this year, changing the school election schedule from June to align with general elections in November of even-numbered years.

Incumbent board members Don Conway and Recco Richardson, whose terms would have expired in June, are expected to seek reelection in the November general election. It may not be known if they will be opposed until after the August 14 filing deadline for school board candidates.

If Conway and Richardson are not reelected, the school board will need to revisit its election of officers and committee assignments, said Superintendent Steve Tunnicliff.

Otherwise, CA’s organization plan for the 2012-12 school year saw few changes.

One notable change was the formal switch from the now defunct Big 9 athletic conference to the Saginaw Valley League Conference.

In the board’s first order of business, Eric Van Duyne, a high school junior, was sworn in as student representative for a two year-term ending June 30, 2014. Van Duyne is one of two students selected to serve on the school board each year.

The board also voted to re-elect president Patrice Hatcher to her second one-year term. All other board officers also retained their same positions, contingent on the outcome of the November election.

If new board members are elected, they would take office in January and require he board to hold another organizational meeting, Tunnicliff said.

Hatcher added that by December, the board also needs to revise its policy which states that organization meetings are held in July.

Other board organizational plans approved for the coming year included designating JP Morgan Chase and MBIA Asset Management Group to be depositories for specified school funds.

Also, the board voted to continue using the law firms of Thrun, P.C.; Collins & Blaha P.C. and Hanba & Lazar P.C. as attorneys for the school district. Taylor & Morgan P.C. were appointed C.P.A. for the annual audit.

Regular board meetings will continue to be held on the first and third Tuesday of each month with the exception of Nov. 13, instead of Nov. 6, to avoid conflict with election day and again in April when the meeting schedule conflicts with Spring Break week.

The board also approved the contract for new superintendent Tunnicliff, replacing Bill Haley, who left at he end of June for another position.

Hatcher said superintendent’s contract was based on recommendations from its contract and succession committees and essentially amounted to no change.

“We are rolling over a contract from one person to another,” she said.


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