By Judy Reed

 If you’ve been thinking about running for a seat on the Cedar Springs Board of Education, you’ll have your chance in November. There will be four positions open—two full terms and two partial terms. None will be longer than four years, since the Board voted on Monday, June 25, to reduce the term served from six years to four years.

A previous board had voted several years ago to change term lengths from four years to six years after the state of Michigan passed a law regarding when elections could be held. They did it to avoid a 4-3 rotation every two years.

Interim Superintendent Mark Dobias had said he felt it might encourage more people to run if they reduced the amount of time to serve. He asked for input from the community on shortening the time frame from four to six years, and told the Post that he received 50-75 emails on it, and no one had voiced opposition. 

The seats up for grabs this fall include Matt McConnon’s seat, which will be a four-year term expiring in 2022; Brook Nichols’ seat, which will also be a four-year-term expiring in 2022; the seat occupied by Jeff Rivard, which expires in 2020; and the seat currently held by Traci Slager, which expires in 2022.

Anyone wishing to run for one of these four trustee positions may either file a petition no later then July 24, 2018, or pay a $100 filing fee by no later than July 24, 2018. You can pick up an election packet at the Kent County Clerk’s office at 300 Monroe Ave., in Grand Rapids, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call them for information at (616) 632-7640.

Residents urged to take web survey, attend community meetings Thursday or Friday

By Judy Reed

If you live or work in Cedar Springs and would like a voice in what qualities the Cedar Springs Board of Education should look for in a new Superintendent, you will have the opportunity to do that through Saturday, April 28.

The board held a special meeting Thursday evening, April 19, where they met with search consultant Gary Rider, of the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI) and set a tentative timeline for the search.

Rider and the board discussed the importance of feedback from parents, students, staff, and the community throughout the process. “Mr. Rider will be facilitating focus group meetings and a community forum to explain the search process, and a survey to gather data regarding what people would like to see in their next superintendent will be posted on the district web site.  This data will be compiled and given to the Board to consider when developing a profile for the ideal candidate,” said Board President Heidi Reed.

The short three question survey can be found on their website at http://www.csredhawks.org/. Just scroll down to where it says, “Take the Superintendent Search Survey.” It is available through noon on Saturday, April 28.

Rider will also be holding focus group meetings and community forums this week. The community forums will be held in the Hilltop 3^rd floor boardroom on Thursday, April 26 at 7:30 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m., and then on Friday, April 27, at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon. The public is invited to attend any of these.

A preliminary job posting was put up online last Friday, April 20, just putting the position out there. After the board gets feedback from the survey and the focus groups and community forums, they will put together the candidate profile, which will be posted by May 4. 

Rider stressed to the board the importance of listening to the feedback they get from the community, staff and students. “If you don’t take that feedback and include it in the profile, they should call you out on it,” remarked Rider. “You need to be accountable to them. You are looking for credibility. This is a great opportunity to show it.”

The application deadline for the position will be May 16. Rider expects a good pool of qualified candidates to apply for the position. “I anticipate the district will attract quality applicants both close to Cedar Springs and from outside the area,” said Rider.

The board will meet on May 18 to review the applications in closed session, and then will announce in open session which candidates will be interviewed. The first round of interviews will take place on June 7 and 8, with second round interviews on June 26 and 27. Rider said the community would be involved in those interviews by giving written feedback and questions to the board.

July 10 and 11 have been blocked out for possible site visits.

Rider noted that the community and staff don’t want this to be rushed. He said he would do a thorough job regardless of the time frame.

During the public comment time, both teacher Jen Kahler and community resident Sue Wolfe said they felt like the search was being rushed. Wolfe noted that not only are they are down a board member, but she asked what happens if Matt McConnon decides he can’t serve if the decision comes back from the prosecutor’s office that he can’t serve on both the school board and Courtland Township? And what happens when Brook Nichols leaves? (She is selling her house but will probably still be on board through early July.) She also noted that many people would be busy during this time.

The board met again on Monday, April 23, for a regular business meeting. Remarks during public comment time centered around asking the board to slow down the process. Teacher Virginia Valentine asked them to put the search on hold until they could get a new board. (Three are up for potential recall, and others will need to run for their seat again in the fall.) 

Teacher Libby Metiva told them there is a high level of fear regarding the Superintendent search and said that it might be time to share their thinking. “How flexible is your timeline if you don’t find the right candidate?” she asked.

Resident Todd Norman asked them to “pump the brakes, halt what you are doing. Bring in an interim and let the people decide.” He noted he didn’t want the same thing to happen that happened in March.

Resident Sally Smith said she thought it’s tragic what has happened in the district. She said she was confident Gary Rider was the best person for the job and would do his best. She also noted that having a Superintendent before the beginning of the year was the best thing for our district.

At the end of the meeting, during BOE comment time, Brook Nichols gave an emotional statement to the audience regarding the resignation of the former Superintendent and the search for a new one. She apologized to the crowd and urged them to come together and put aside their differences.

“Everyone makes mistakes. I made a mistake. I was thrilled with the last person until I realized what was happening. And her not being here is best for our whole district…The board that was there and continued to be there for part of that time is very different than the board that’s up here now…Of course we want what’s best for our district. Our kids go here, or have gone here or have graduated and we’re proud of that. We don’t want someone that does a terrible job, of course. I know it’s frustrating; I’m not going to ask you all to just trust something that you haven’t trusted and haven’t felt heard for a long time, I get it. I do. But reach out to a few of us and not just the ones you think will listen. Let us know how you feel. I understand you’ve spoken up here, but it’s different. Meet for coffee. I’ll meet anybody. Be a part of the process. There is a lot in place for feedback. 

“To me, when I heard slow down, to be honest with you, I thought that meant take your time, not wait for everybody to get recalled or changed and then start next year…now I understand what you meant. But, there could be a great candidate out there. And there might not be…And if we all work together and listen to each other, I promise I’ll listen to the feedback…This is what we’ve got going. There are rules in place for people that have retired. How long they can work, how much they can collect in salary, so there are other pieces to it.

“I can’t discuss what happened in closed session so I’m not going to do that…We did not sit down and have a happy conversation…It was not a happy ‘Hey let’s sit down and do this together.’ It was horrible. It was horrible for all of you and it was also horrible for all of us. I guess with that in mind, I’m sorry for what happened. I’ll take any responsibility that is my own. Maybe at times I should’ve done or voted something differently. I apologize if I offended anyone personally. Let me know and I’ll try to make it right.

“We are not going to vote tonight on stopping a process because that’s not how this normally works. Not that we can’t have that conversation, and not that it can’t continue and still at some point say we don’t have any good candidates…
“But that can’t happen if there’s all this conflict. So I’m asking anyone that’s willing to take a little step forward, all together, and let’s follow the process. Let’s get your input, have the meetings, see what we get, and if we don’t get somebody that’s right, we can start back over. And that’s ok…

“I do care. We all deserve to be heard and we all deserve to be cared about. And we all deserve to come to a district where we can help our kids be the best they can be. I’m asking everyone to put aside their hate or upset feelings or whatever it is and please come together.”

To reach the members of the Board of Education, you can find their email addresses at http://www.csredhawks.org/District/Board-of-Education/Meet-our-Board/index.html.

Heidi Reed

By Judy Reed

The Cedar Springs Board of Education will have a new president to lead the board in 2018.

The board voted in Heidi Reed 6-0, at its annual reorganization meeting Monday evening, January 15. She was nominated by Brook Nichols.

“I am humbled and honored by the support of the entire board of education team to lead this year as President,” said Reed, who is just starting her second year on the board.

“Our CSPS administration and staff are doing great things, on so many levels. I’m grateful for all their committed work for our students! [I am] excited this year to continue the visionary, governance and policy work for the district, [and] honored to serve.”

Matthew Shoffner, who was previously president, was voted in as Vice President, 6-0. In his remarks during the “gratitudes” section of the meeting, he noted that the board had been through quite a bit and he would miss the board members that had left, but was grateful to those that had stayed. 

Brook Nichols was voted in as secretary, 6-0, and Shannon Vanderhyde was voted in as treasurer, also 6-0.

The board will meet again next week, Tuesday, January 23, at 6 p.m. to interview candidates to fill the seventh seat on the board, which was previously held by Patricia Eary, who resigned at the beginning of Monday night’s meeting. (See story here).

January is School Board Recognition Month  – An opportunity for us to celebrate the great things happening in our schools and the dedicated volunteer school board members that serve the Cedar Springs community.

School board members are regular citizens, like you and me,  that have an extraordinary commitment to the children of our community.

Today, our school board members are entrusted with the important work of shaping the education of our youngest citizens.  They dedicate countless hours to creating the mission, vision and goals that drive our schools.  They are dedicated to creating a school culture where collaboration and continuous learning are valued and displayed throughout our system.  The seven members of the Cedar Springs Board of Education do this by always keeping children as the center of their work and decision making.

Please join me in saluting the men and women who serve as members of the Cedar Springs Board of Education. Take a moment to express your gratitude for this important service to our community.

Brook Nichols-10 Years of Service

Joe Marckini-7 Years of Service

Jeff Gust -4 Years of Service

Matthew Shoffner -4 Years of Service

Shannon Vanderhyde- 4 Years of Service

Patricia Eary -2 Years of Service

Michelle Bayink-First Year of Service

Laura VanDuyn, Ed.D.Superintendent, Cedar Springs Public Schools

As I drove in to the newly repaved High School today, I felt so grateful for the generosity of our community in making this happen. The passage of the sinking fund in 2012 allowed this major improvement to become a reality. This summer, the school was able to use these dollars to resurface the high school gym as well as improve the overall flow of traffic at the high school. We were able to add more parking spaces and eliminate the potholes too numerous to count. Without the support of voters in passing the sinking fund, this would not be possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Brook Nichols, school board President