Keystone Academy swears in board member

Darren Hickonbottom, who has been a basketball coach for boys and girls at Keystone Charter Academy for four years, was sworn in as a new board member at the regular Oct. 13 meeting of the board.
Hickonbottom lives in Ypsilanti Township and his daughter Autumn, her husband William Meadows, and their daughter London were present for the swearing in.
There was some delay in getting Hickonbottom approved for the board by National Heritage Academies, which owns the school, and Bay Mills Community College, which chartered the school, because Hickonbottom was paid a stipend by the school for coaching.
That was considered a conflict of interest, so Hickonbottom agreed to continue coaching without pay so he could be a board member – also without pay.
The board of directors now is complete. Members are president Vesta Losen, treasurer Carol Manley, secretary Connie Shull, Susan Meland, and Hickonbottom.
Also at the Oct. 11 meeting the board:
• Talked about constant changes in testing by the state. “It would be nice to have some consistency,” said Keystone Principal Keturah Godfrey;
• Heard Godfrey report that there are 779 students enrolled at Keystone from Young 5’s to eighth grade and the school is full. She also said Kelly Todd has filled the open music position and now there are no open teaching positions;
• Approved the Accelerated Reader Online Program;
• Discussed what to give the teachers for Christmas gifts; and
• Heard Godfrey tell about a Keystone second grader whose cancer came back and the parents were given a choice of more chemotherapy that had an uncertain result or amputation of her leg. Amputation was the day of the board meeting. Godfrey said the second graders got together to order her an American Girl doll with a prosthetic leg. Channel 4 came out to cover the story. “The community really rallied behind her,” Godfrey said.
Present at the board meeting were Bay Mills representative Jeff Henders and NHA representative Cathy Henkenberns.