News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Board members Mike Hart, Annette Porter, Stacey Porter, and Lain Veihl are in discussion at the Onaway Area Community Schools regular board meeting Tuesday night in Onaway.

ONAWAY — On Tuesday night, the Onaway Area Community Schools Board of Education met for their regular meeting and discussed the superintendent hiring process.

Interim Superintendent Dan Bauer opened the meeting by reminding the board and audience members of what proper open meeting decorum looks like.

Bauer projected a message that read: “Meeting decorum is the set of rules and guidelines that govern how people behave during a meeting. It includes the manners, professionalism, and etiquette that help create a respectful and productive environment.”

John Scholten from the Michigan Leadership Institute presented on developing, deploying, and supporting outstanding leadership. The board is considering using the institute’s services in hiring a new superintendent.

At their special board meeting last week, the board heard from Tim Hall from the Michigan Association of School Boards, who could also provide them with guidance in their superintendent search.

The board discussed bringing Hall back to do another presentation about the process of picking a superintendent. They felt that his presentation was not as in-depth as Scholten’s and he could expand more on what the association offers.

Board president Mike Hart mentioned that Hall has more background with the district and knows its challenges and strengths better than the leadership institute.

However, all board members were impressed with Scholten’s presentation.

Ultimately, board members voted unanimously to use the Michigan Leadership Institute’s services in their superintendent search.

An anonymous letter that was given to the board at their meeting last Tuesday was read by a public audience member who requested the document be released to the public through the Freedom of Information Act.

The letter was written by a concerned staff member who was upset by the process in which staff members were asked to support former Superintendent Mindy Horn’s return.

The staff member said that a sheet of paper was passed around and staff members were asked to sign it if they were in support of Horn returning. The staff member said that they, as well as other staff members, felt pressured to sign and were not given much time to think about it.

The staff member felt that this was an unprofessional way to ask for a signature of support. The staff member also felt that if they did not sign the paper, it would be held against them by Horn, if she were to return, and a redacted name.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

* Jamie Huber, superintendent of the Cheboygan Oscoda Presque Isle Educational Service District discussed the ESD wide Career Technical Education survey.

The results of the survey with over 1200 responses showed that 94% of people surveyed in the ESD area thought that expanding CTE was a good idea.

He also proposed starting a machining program at Onaway.

* Laura Percival, the Michigan Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Region 12 director, discussed summer camp and academy programs for middle schoolers and high schoolers respectively.

* The superintendent reported that there will be a meeting at City Hall at 3 p.m. today to discuss the bond proposal. He also reported that he will be posting job openings for the part-time special education coordinator and new interim superintendent

* The Early Middle College application was submitted, Bryan Pyle, secondary principal, said.

* Elementary principal Robin Benson discussed plans for reading month in March for elementary students.

* Pyle and Benson presented data from M-STEP, PSAT, and SAT scores last year. One notable statistic was that 10% of students met proficiency for the SAT at Onaway compared to 25% statewide. Pyle and Benson were optimistic that this is due to the fact that the SAT is meant to show proficiency for college, and not necessarily other pathways like the trades.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.