Michael Van Tassel of Ann Arbor, principal of Belleville High School since May 2010, was the only internal candidate applying for the position of superintendent of the Van Buren Public Schools – and after a formal interview on Tuesday, the School Board agreed he was the one they wanted.
Board members decided to look no further and cancelled the external search for additional candidates.
All that’s needed is the official vote of the board, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 9. The special meeting is set for 7 p.m. at Rawsonville Elementary School preceded by a 6 p.m. meet and greet for the public to talk to Van Tassel one on one.
The board indicated it will immediately start a search for a new principal for BHS.
Tuesday’s special meeting to interview the internal candidates – which was only Van Tassel – turned into a love fest.
The plan was to have a 90-minute formal interview with Van Tassel on Nov. 1 and then a meet and greet and mini-interview on Nov. 9, after which a vote would be taken.
But Trustee Kevin English, a longtime enthusiastic supporter of Van Tassel, pulled out a long, convoluted motion to select Van Tassel as superintendent, which was seconded by Trustee Toni Hunt, a 20-year supporter of Van Tassel.
Board members all indicated they wanted Van Tassel for superintendent and had no interest in taking the superintendent’s search further than its first candidate.
English’s motion contained complicated language that waives the requirement for a Education Specialist degree for the superintendent.
Van Tassel holds two master’s degrees which they thought was good enough.
But members of the audience Tuesday questioned having the vote at that meeting since the board previously announced the vote would be taken Nov. 9.
Mrs. Kurczewski called the sudden motion “extremely impulsive” and added, “You had a plan and we expect you to follow the plan.” She noted the community would be very unhappy with them if they proceeded.
After more, similar comments from the audience and second thoughts by Trustees Sherry Frazier and Scott Russell, English withdrew his motion and said he hoped for a vote next Wednesday
Van Tassel has been an employee of the school district for almost 20 years.
His candidacy first was announced last Friday at a special school board meeting at Rawsonville Elementary School. That’s when the schedule of special meetings was announced.
The announced plan was that at the Nov. 9 meeting, the board could choose Van Tassel as superintendent or decide to continue the search for an outside candidate.
Van Tassel had lots of support within the Van Buren schools and on his application he names school board Trustee Toni Hunt as one of his professional references; along with interim School Supt. Thomas Riutta; Riutta’s wife Bonnie, a consultant to BHS; BHS consultant Dennis Connolly; and newly hired Human Resources Director Shonta Langford-Green.
In his on-line application, Van Tassel states his current gross income as BHS Principal at $105,000. He lists his most recent degree as a Master of Science degree in Educational Leadership from Concordia University in December 2009.
He also has a Master of Music degree in Music Performance from the University of Michigan from May 1986 and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Performance from the U of M in May 1985.
Van Tassel worked at BHS as director of bands from 1990 to 2005, building the band up from 67 to 250 members, one of the largest high school bands in Michigan. He supervised a powerful, 100-plus-member parent booster organization, which earned large amounts of money for band use. He also successfully pushed for a new building to house band and choir.
Then, Van Tassel went into administration and became a BHS assistant principal, serving for two years until he left, after a dispute with then School Supt. Pete Lazaroff.
Van Tassel’s application said he left in 2007, with a gross salary of $95,000, to go back to school to earn a degree in Educational Leadership.
That departure followed Supt. Lazaroff’s assignment of him to a position at the middle school, which Van Tassel objected to. Van Tassel gathered his supporters, many from the band booster days including School Board Trustee Toni Hunt, who successfully influenced the school board to override Supt. Lazaroff and return Van Tassel to the high school.