News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Dan Bauer is being interviewed for the interim superintendent position by the Onaway Area School Board of Education during their board meeting on Tuesday. Bauer was selected out of the three candidates to receive the position.

ALPENA — The Onaway Area Schools Board of Education selected an interim superintendent and a new board member after a lengthy board meeting on Tuesday.

During the nearly five-hour board meeting, Dan Bauer was named as interim superintendent, and Joe Bonnard was named as the new board member. Both appointments are approved pending a background check.

Bauer will be filling in for Superintendent Mindy Horn, who officially resigned at Onaway’s June board meeting. Horn’s last day will be July 26.

Bonnard will be filling in for Erin Chaskey, who also resigned during the June board meeting. Bonnard’s seat will be up for election in the November election. Applications for the position are due by July 23.

Horn and Chaskey, along with Secondary Principal Marty Mix, resigned during June’s hectic board meeting. Horn went on to rescind her resignation only to have officially approved on Tuesday.

During his interview, Bauer, who grew up in Alpena, detailed his experience in the education field, including his time as an assistant principal in the Alpena Public Schools district and his work as a superintendent in multiple other school districts.

“I took a job as an assistant principal,” Bauer said in his interview. “Then I went out to Arizona, I was a teacher, and there I served as principal at the elementary level, middle, and high school, and superintendent for four different school districts.”

Bauer was selected from three separate candidates for the interim superintendent position.

During discussion prior to Bauer’s appointment, Onaway board Trustee John Palmer praised Bauer’s experience sighting it as exactly what the board needs in an interim superintendent

“I think Dan Bauer is a perfect fit for this interim job,” Palmer said. “I just think that all the experience that that man brings to the table, especially in an interim situation, is just top shelf for what we need to transition.”

Bonnard mentioned during his interview that he would like to improve relations between the board and Onaway staff, stating that he believes everyone is at Onaway for the right reasons.

“I want to make it better,” Bonnard said about the relationship between the administration and the board. “Everybody here is here for the right reason.”

Bonnard was selected from five candidates for the new board member position.

Palmer praised Bonnard as a down-to-earth candidate.

“The one thing that brings me to Joe is he’s just a down-to-earth kind of guy,” Palmer said during the discussion on a new board appointment.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

The Onaway Area School Board of Education on Monday also:

* Named board Trustee Mike Hart as the Vice President of the board, filling the spot left vacant by Chaskey’s resignation

* Accepted the resignation of Horn

* Hired Steve Watson as the New Onaway Area Schools Athletic Director, replacing Mix

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that the Onaway Area School District board seat filled by the board this week will be up for election in the November election. That information was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.