On Monday, members of the school district staff and members of the community told the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education that they were disappointed that Michael Van Tassel’s name was not among the three finalists vying for the position of Belleville High School principal.
Van Tassel was a longtime band director in the district who went on to be an assistant principal at BHS and then, after being assigned to a middle school position, unsuccessfully contended for principal in 2006. Some of the same people who spoke in favor of Van Tassel in 2006, spoke again on Monday. Van Tassel no longer works for the district.
His supporters’ comments were made at the special meeting of the board, aimed mainly at making decisions to move the high school construction project along.
There also was an update on the search for a high school principal.
School Supt. Tom Riutta had put in place a procedure that included two focus groups of about a dozen each from the community who rated seven candidates (one withdrew) and there were candidate interviews by staff committees. From their scorings, the top three candidates were chosen from the six.
The three will be interviewed on Tuesday, July 7, at the Administration Building by the Central Office Staff. Supt. Riutta said he planned to have a recommendation at the board’s next meeting on July 13, or a special meeting could be called.
The board had hoped to have a new principal in place by July 1. Assistant Principal Tim Ottewell has been serving as interim principal since the resignation of the previous principal last year.
On July 7, Matt Chapin of Adrian (lives in Van Buren Township) will be interviewed from 9 to 10:30 a.m.; Brent Cryderman of Parma, from 10:30 a.m. until noon; and Mike Cipriano of Wisconsin, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Riutta said after the interviews, the three candidates will be reduced to two and then the references will be checked and there will be site visits before a final decision is made. It is the superintendent’s responsibility to recommend a candidate, which the board may accept or reject.
Speaking on the subject during the audience participation section of Monday’s meeting were:
* Tim Miller, North Middle School teacher and director of the Belleville Community Band, who said he has known Van Tassel since they attended the University of Michigan together and Van Tassel is a leader who knows the community. Miller also read a letter from former School Board Trustee Susan Ward Callahan, who criticized the violence in the high school, the poor classroom management, and lack of accountability. She said she sees the students who are struggling with their educations. Callahan said the students need a person with a strong, passionate commitment to them and she is disappointed that Van Tassel is no longer under consideration. She wished the board luck in their challenge to select a principal, since “our students are graduating virtually skill-less” and someone like Van Tassel is needed with the inner strength to lead;
* Jeffrey Archer, a 37-year educator, gave the school board a lesson on schools in a booming voice and then unfolded a road map and produced a staff directory, since, “You are lost and you need our help to find your way”;
* Karen Hunchberger, a librarian/ media specialist at BHS with 40 years as an educator, said BHS sorely needs a principal. The school needs constancy and consistency. She said since the process has been delayed and it is getting late, “We need someone now who already knows us … We already tried an outsider. It didn’t work”;
* Douglas Brown, retired as district curriculum director, also spoke in favor of Van Tassel, saying he looked up the three finalists on the internet and found they are not suitable. “I urge you to include Michael Van Tassel in the final interviews”;
* Kim Tindall, a parent who is not a “band person,” claimed that none of the finalists have experience with diversity, but Van Tassel does. “We went through two years of absolute horror after Mr. Kelly left … if you bring in a rookie … a greenhorn…”;
* Connie Testorelli, a parent of seven who has lived in the community for 50 years, implored the board to select a candidate that knows this community and will not be using this school as a stepping stone.
Board President David Peer said Brown’s information using Google was not completely accurate.
Peer said there was a clear consensus from the focus groups and, “These were all viable candidates.
“If we are going to ask people to come in and spend their time, we should listen to what they say,” Peer said.
Trustee Bob Binert said there were three in-house and three out-of-district candidates (including Van Tassel). He said he has never seen the district conduct so many interviews of the candidates, but Riutta has gotten input from the staff and community people to see what they are looking for.
At the end of the meeting, Susan Duda, president of the Van Buren Education Association, said all of the candidates were very good candidates. “Just decide which one you want to work with … It’s a matter of getting the best candidate,” she said.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:
* Approved changes in the Michigan Schools Energy Cooperative by-laws to allowing locking in a portion of diesel fuel purchases;
* Approved the request of Plante Moran CRESA to interview the five top candidates out of 13 who applied for construction manager for the high school project. The project is expected to be done by August 2013. Interviews will take place July 9 for: Barton Malow, SKANSKA, Granger, George W. Auch Co., and Clark Construction. Peer alerted the board that since they will be following the law (for prevailing wage) and following board policy (looking at lowest qualified bidder) that they might have union picketers at the work site;
* Approved the request of Plante Moran to hire OHM for additional survey services up to $8,000. OHM already has done surveys on the site of the high school project, but now off site work is required, such as determining how big is the sewer pipe on West Columbia to carry waste from a big school. They will be surveying utilities up and down Columbia, since the new building will be tied into the system. Also, some title work has to be done, since there is no record of the title for a 150’ wide by 400’ long parcel on the south side of the site. Miss Dig has been out to mark utilities. Pressure tests for fire fighting will be made on the water lines. Trustee Martha Toth said Belleville is putting in a new water main and the school should coordinate its needs with the city;
* Approved the second reading and adoption of a board attendance policy update;
* Heard Peer say it may be time for the board to go through the policy manual again to update it. He will bring a proposal on the process to the July 13 meeting;
* Was informed that at the July 13 board meeting there will be a full presentation on the high school project and a recommendation for a construction manager; and
* Heard Binert ask about the number of days in the district’s school year and Riutta said it was 157 for the coming year. Riutta said the board will have to discuss the number of days it wants and the state is looking at it, too. Toth said the district added minutes to the school days and cut the number of days to save money. School was closed for a week in the winter to save on heating costs, “But this is not the trend we should follow.”