Three school board positions to open as three long-serving board members retire
Ron Ellison, Sheryl Purol and Lyndon Uphaus. Photos from School Board profile pages.
Manchester Community Schools is losing three long-serving school board members at the end of this year: Ron Ellison, Lyndon Uphaus and Sheryl Purol. With their retirements will go years of experience and institutional memory. Although it is hard to find an upside to this loss, with two of the four remaining school board members newly elected last year, these three additional openings provide a real opportunity for new ideas to take root and for radical change to occur.
If Manchester Schools are going to continue to thrive, difficult decisions will need to be made. Because of systemic failures at state level (cuts in per-pupil spending coupled with statewide declines in enrollment), the school board is having to figure out how to continue to offer students “robust choices with declining resources.” Superintendent Cherie Vannatter and school board president Chris Fegan listed the challenges facing the school board as including strategic planning, financial stability, declining enrollment and offering quality programs; challenges, Fegan added, that are being faced by every school board in Michigan. As Manchester Community Schools is a school of choice district, marketing to potential students is also of high importance.
The school board needs three new members and while they will not be able to immediately fill the shoes of their predecessors, there are a number of characteristics candidates considering running for the positions should evaluate in themselves. According to the Michigan Association of School Boards, effective school board members should be: good team players, willing to spend time becoming well-informed on issues, able to represent the entire community, temperamentally suited to respond accordingly and appropriately through challenging events, willing to listen thoughtfully to others, mature enough to respect confidentiality of privileged information, and willing to abide by and support board operating procedures.
Fegan, whose seat is also coming up for election this year, but who is running for re-election stated, “I would encourage anyone interested in running for the school board to attend regular board meetings. Good candidates are those who feel passionate about putting our students' needs first. A calm demeanor and good listening skills are a must.”
While the challenges facing the school board in the short term are daunting, Fegan explained that there are rewards. “The payback for serving on the board is the feeling of knowing you can make a difference in the educational experience for all the kids in the community,” she said. “Our number one focus is doing what's best for our students while maintaining a safe and caring atmosphere in which to learn.”
The election to fill the empty seats will occur Nov. 8th, 2016, in conjunction with the presidential election, and the term for the winners will begin Jan. 1, 2017. To be eligible to run for the school board, a candidate must be at least 18, a US resident, a resident of Michigan for at least 30 days, and a registered voter in the Manchester Community School district. The candidate does not need to be a property owner. Being convicted of some specific types of felonies during the last 30 years could render a candidate ineligible.
In order to appear on the ballot, candidates must pay a $100 filing fee or collect between 6 and 20 signatures on a nominating petition which is available from the county clerk - elections division. Nominating petitions may also be available from Manchester Community Schools' central office and/or township offices. Candidates must turn in the filing fee or completed petition, along with an affidavit of identity, to the county clerk by 4 pm on July 26.
Fegan talked about what she will miss about working with the three retiring board members. “We are losing three seasoned members who have served for a very long time. Ron Ellison has been serving on the board for as long as I can remember. I will miss his professionalism, experience, and [the] relentless energy he brings to the table. Lyndon Uphaus is such a wealth of knowledge on so many topics of the educational system. I will miss [the] support and guidance he provided. Sheryl Purol is our guru on the day to day operations from an inside perspective. Her advice and experience as a former teacher is invaluable. What I will miss the most about Sheryl is her impeccable delivery of a great punchline! In all seriousness, I am grateful to have had such wonderful mentors.”
Let us hope that their replacements can, in time, live up to the standards of professionalism and compassion that these retirees have set, while bringing innovation, inspiration and the perseverance needed to face the challenges ahead.
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