Forums reveal support for shared superintendent

The public has had their say and the word seems to be ?go.? At meetings in Posen and Rogers City last week, the boards of education from each school district asked for public input on the idea of a shared superintendent of schools. The meeting in Posen had more in attendance than the Rogers City meeting, but each drew interested people. At Monday?s meeting of the Rogers City Board of Education, Posen interim superintendent Mike Murch told of his evaluation of how the meetings went. ?I have talked with all of our staff members and I?ve also talked to a good number of people from the community, many of who were at all of the meetings and cast their ballot,? Murch told the RC board.

?The reaction is somewhat split and most generally those who felt that you ought to be careful and take a good look at continuing on are those who felt that they hadn?t had adequate information yet to make a positive decision.? The first public meeting was at the Posen High School October 5 while the second was conducted at the Grambau Center in Rogers City the following evening. ?They were concerned about things that would happen to be favorable to students if we were to share a superintendent. They didn?t feel that it was adequately explained that the benefits were not explored enough and they need more information before they would be willing to say yes,? Murch said.

AT THE POSEN meeting, one parent noted that, in a small community like Posen, the school is the center of activity and that consolidation would be like losing that identity, which is why many people oppose the idea. Ken Wozniak, president of the board, emphasized that sharing the superintendent was not about consolidation but more toward cooperation between the two schools. He noted that sharing resources and information could improve productivity of the teachers and staff. ?If we can work together in ways that maximize our teacher?s time and energy so they devote more time to classroom activities, that is good for everyone,? he said. He added that the two schools working together on the recruitment of a shared superintendent had a better chance of offering a competitive salary to attract the best candidate for the position. A wide variety of issues were raised by members of the audience from the amount of savings to be realized by sharing a superintendent to where that person would reside and send his or her own children to school.

The board members indicated that they were in unanimous agreement on the concept but would act according to the wishes of the community. ?I want to thank everyone for coming and showing support for the school. It shows that we all want what is best for our students,? Wozniak concluded.

AT THE SECOND of two public meetings, the Rogers City Board of Education asked about 20 in attendance for their opinions on the idea of a shared superintendent. RC board president Mike Marx made it clear that the board wanted public input on the matter and encouraged public participation at the meeting. ?The school board?s budget is getting tighter and tighter as time goes on,? he said. Plus we face declining enrollment. It is becoming a challenge to save dollars and get more funding for classrooms. Right now 80-90 percent of the budget is personnel costs and a big part of that is administrative.? Marx said the RC board is considering the shared superintendent option because of the ?opportunity that has arisen with vacancies at the same time in Rogers City and Posen which has allowed us to possibly save costs.? Consolidation of the two school districts is not on the table at this time, Marx said. Each school district will be run as its own entity.

?ROGERS CITY is unique. Posen is unique. But it doesn?t mean we can?t share a superintendent. In the future it could mean we might end up sharing classes or services to get the best for each school district,? Marx said. As for savings, Marx estimated the Rogers City schools could save $20,000 to 40,000, with the final figure subject to negotiations. That savings is assuming the share superintendent would be paid a salary in the range of $100,000. ?We would not be able to offer a competitive salary unless we pool the Rogers City and Posen resources. The higher salary might increase the pool of candidates and allow us to possibly get a getter candidate,? Marx said. In answer to another question, Marx said the amount of time spent at each school would be related to the number of students, but that, too would be negotiated. Asked if the reasons for considering the move were motivated entirely by money Marx responded with this answer: ?To be able to expand our curriculum and yet save costs is part of what we are envisioning. Maybe one person can see the overall picture.?

RC board member Scott McLennan said to expand the programs would be nice, but realistically, with declining enrollment forecast for each district, maintaining current programs would be more likely, if money were saved. Should the board decide to proceed, hiring the right person could be a few months off, Marx said. Assuming each board approves the notion, a list of candidates would be sought, then narrowed down. ?Then here is where the complexity comes in, because we are running in uncharted waters,? Marx said. ?The work has just begun if we go past this meeting tonight.? WOZNIAK SAID his board is hoping to have someone in place by July 1, 2006. Answering the question of who would the superintendent report to, sparked the response of ?both boards.? Wozniak said he envisions a quarterly meeting with board executives from each district, but monthly meetings as are conducted now with the superintendent attending, and answering to, each separate board will continue.

The final vote from audience members on whether to pursue the id

ea of a shared superintendent was 8 for and 2 against at the Rogers City forum. Others in attendance had etiher voted in Posen, were members of the Posen board or administration, or media members. The Posen vote went two-thirds for and one-third against the idea of a shared superintendent. ?After we were able to put all of the numbers together from the people that were at the forum, and those who were at the first session and not able to get at the second, as well as putting our staff numbers in there, with their responses we ended up with about two thirds, actually 69 percent in favor of moving forward,? Murch said.

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