Peggy Voigt will be making the decisions on when to cancel school for storms this winter.
She lives just a block away from the school district administration building and could get there on foot, if necessary, when all other transportation is snowed in.
On Monday, the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education named Voigt as Superintendent Designee when School Supt. Tom Riutta is out of the district.
Riutta, who lives in Brighton, is serving as superintendent on a year’s contract to bridge the gap between the death of School Supt. Pete Lazaroff and the search for a new permanent superintendent.
“In a district the size of Van Buren, it is wise to have someone who is available to make day-to-day decisions when the superintendent is not available,” Riutta wrote in a memo to the board.
“We need to have someone who has the knowledge to deal with a myriad of problems, concerns and issues which occur every day. It is important to have someone who knows the district, parents, children as well as the staff and all the occurrences which may come up during the normal business day,” he wrote.
“We have made so many cuts in administrative personnel that it is important to recognize the necessity of having a designated person to make decisions. I believe Peggy Voigt would be the logical and best choice for this designation,” Riutta said.
He said they will be working out the number of days that Voigt will be working and her compensation.
“This would be a central office position,” Riutta said.
Currently, Voigt is the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and now also Superintendent Designee. She is working on her PhD in Education which she expects to get next year and also is taking part in a superintendent’s program in Lansing.
School board members were interested in Voigt’s resume which showed her high school diploma came from the American School in London, England, where her father was stationed.
Voigt has been with the Van Buren Public Schools since 1979, when she started as an elementary school teacher, moving up to a middle school classroom, principal of Tyler Elementary School for seven years and then in 2007 into central office as elementary curriculum supervisor.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:
* Approved a new Home-School Liaison position for a one-year pilot program paid for with federal stimulus funds. Voigt said one of the issues she hears from BHS teachers is that students who are struggling are the students who miss 20 or more days of classes. The new position with help address attendance, discipline and work completion issues, “all the things that are hindering our kids — and get them back on track,” Voigt said. She said after the stimulus money runs out, they will have to use federal Title 1 money for the position, if it proves valuable. She said they have someone in mind for the assignment. The board will expect a report on the project at its second meeting in January;
* Approved three special education positions, also paid for with federal stimulus funds (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), to support inclusion and Least Restrictive Environment practices. The team will promote inclusion of special education and at-risk students in the regular education curriculum. Qualifying teachers will be called back from layoffs. A report on this project will be expected by the board during its first meeting in February;
* Was informed that the new Middle Schools Standards-Based Report Cards will be used at South Middle School this fall as a pilot program. A version of the information-packed computer printouts were used at North Middle School for summer school and those using them were enthusiastic, but other teachers were not interested in using them there this fall. South Principal Michelle Herring was enthusiastic and the cards will be implemented there, with a parent survey next March to see how parents like it. The standards-based report cards are already in use in the elementary schools and Wayne RESA said Van Buren was the first district attempting to extend the standards-based reporting past the elementary school, Voigt said;
* Approved the BHS Michigan Merit Examination Preparation Course for a half elective credit towards high school graduation to prepare students to take the MME in the spring. The course is for 90 juniors, first come, first served. BHS assistant principal Carl Shultz presented the program, which will use the computer lab and require zero additional funding;
* Heard Shultz say he has started tweeting and has 12 followers who automatically get information from him about BHS. His goal is to have 1,000 followers by the end of the first semester. “Just about everyone’s tweeting,” he said. “I woke up at 6:30 this morning and I tweeted.” He said teachers have to meet students “where they’re at.” He said he is trying to engage the kids with the new technology;
* Approved recommendations for food service bread and milk bids through the Southeast Wayne County Buying Cooperative. Low bidder for bread was Interstate Brands/Wonder Bread and low bidder for milk was Pointe Dairy of Troy;
* Presented a timeline for hiring a BHS principal. The position was posted Aug. 11 and the posting will continue through Sept. 12. Resume reviews will take place Sept. 14. Focus groups interviews and administrative interviews take place the week of Sept. 21. Central office interviews will be the week of Sept. 28 and visitation of the finalist on Oct. 7. The recommended candidate will be brought to the board meeting on Oct. 26;
* Approved the KC Childcare Contract for a latchkey program and extended day services at Savage Elementary. KC will reimburse the district monthly for 3.5% of its gross revenue received from the extended day services and 2.5% of its latchkey program;
* Approved the retirements of Connie Sue Combs of Haggerty, after 30 years as a cook, and Wendy Grishaber of South Middle School, after 30 ½ years as a paraprofessional. Also approved was the termination for personal reasons of Lynn Olson after one year as a substitute in the food service department;
* Approved the hiring of Geri Sifton for an assignment at the ECDC. She had spent five years in that position previously before taking another assignment; and
* Announced the next meetings would be Sept. 14, regular; Sept. 21, study session; and Sept. 28, regular. Trustee Bob Binert wanted to discuss, at the Sept. 21 session, a possible Habitat for Humanity Project on the district’s West Willow property in conjunction with the district’s building trades class. Also at that meeting, the board will discuss a facility for the Alternative Education Program.
The board held a special executive session at 6:30 p.m. Monday before the regular meeting to discuss the Alternative Education Program with the school attorney.