August school board meeting: decisions made on superintendent contract; in-person school board candidate forum planned
by Melissa Yekulis
The monthly School Board meeting for Manchester Community Schools was called to order at 6pm on Monday, August 17. Two board members were absent.
The meeting began with the approval of the agenda. The agenda was approved unanimously.
The agenda was followed by a presentation from teacher Joe Walsh and his STEM students sharing their recent summer field trip experience. Board President Sandra Wiitala expressed her pride in the students in going out beyond Manchester to represent the school district. Andy Galicki and Jenna Kezelian also presented their plans for reviving the drama club this year, based on student interest. They will start the year teaching improvisation and how theater works. The second half of the year, they will build up towards producing a formal play.
There were no participants in Public Participation.
A recommendation was made to accept the Consent Agenda as it was presented. A motion was made to remove the personnel report from the consent agenda to vote on separately. The consent agenda was unanimously accepted without the personnel report.
The personnel report was reviewed in two layers. Resignations, Retirements, and Tenure were presented. The report was accepted unanimously. New Hires were presented, acknowledged, and accepted unanimously by the board. Each hire was completed through a roll call vote, with one board member recusing himself from voting on one candidate.
There was no old business for review.
Under New Business, there were five topics of discussion for consideration.
The board needed to designate official delegates for the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) official meeting for 2026. Jennifer Caszatt was voted as the representative, with Sandra Wiitala serving as the alternate representative. The motions passed unanimously.
The Emergency Operation Plan for the district has been updated and was presented to the board. The board unanimously voted to accept the new plan.
The next phase of planning for the bond projects at the Junior/Senior High School were presented to the board for approval. They have reached the mid-point in the design process and have presented drawing for review and approval. The final designs will be prepared for approval by October to ensure bids can be placed in November. The new schematics include parking revisions, the addition of an auxiliary gym for community activities and Wellness Center support, auditorium upgrades, STEM wing upgrades, and more. Discussion was made around the budget and how the contingency budget factors into the process. It was explained that if there are funds left over from the initial bond work with all three buildings, transportation would become the next target for support, followed by general district needs. The proposal was approved, with one member declining their support for the measure.
The board voted to unanimously uphold the 2026-2027 South West Washtenaw Consortium Agreement. Updates were presented around the Career Technical Education (CTE) millage within this presentation. No money has been received for CTE at this time. This will start coming in as summer tax money begins to be distributed. CTE is still in its planning stages, with an emphasis on districts complementing and supporting one another across the county, at the K-12 level. This year, the lead CTE team will work to determine how funds will be equitably distributed across the county.
A discussion took place around Superintendent Contract Duties. At last Tuesday’s special meeting, the board voted to approve Tom Johns for the superintendent position for the district. A subcommittee of board members Jennifer Caszatt, Michael Tindall, and Sandra Wiitala will meet to develop the new contract agreement. The board plans to offer a three-year contract for the role of superintendent, with an annual renewal of the Riverside Principal role as an extra duty within that contract to allow for flexibility of job appointments. The contract will go through legal for final approval. The board voted to offer the dual role of superintendent and principal to Tom Johns, with one member declining support for the offer.
Building department reports have been posted and made available for viewing on the district website. Interim Superintendent Shannon Cajic took the time to go through the submitted reports and highlight the information shared from each building and department.
Cajic also presented her superintendent report. She expressed her sincere gratitude to the board for the time and effort they dedicated to completing the superintendent search. She also expressed her thanks to the outstanding internal candidates that stepped forward to apply for the position. She communicated that 8 weeks of summer camps have been completed, with over 200 student registrations for a variety of immersive experiences throughout the summer. Thanks was extended to Katie Altherr for her work in making the event a success. In closing, she shared that the athletic and band fall season are underway. She shared her joy in seeing the students back on campus again as the new year slowly resumes.
There was one participant in public participation. Theresa Herron, a teacher at Klager, has traditionally worked with the board and central office to facilitate an open forum for school board candidates before the November election and requested to continue the tradition. The board and office agreed to work with her again to arrange this event. It will most likely take place over two evenings at the end of October. Stay tuned for more information.
A public reminder was made of upcoming events:
- August 25: District Open House: 5:00pm-7:30pm
- August 31: First Day of School
The meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:20pm.
The next public board meeting will take place on Monday, September 21 at 6pm in the Junior/Senior High School Media Center.
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