Karensa Smith of Canton Township has been chosen from a field of 463 applicants to be the new principal of Rawsonville Elementary School.
At Monday’s meeting, the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to name Smith to the post to replace Susan Farber, who is retiring.
Smith currently is principal at Merriman Elementary School in Romulus and has the challenge of closing her school.
Smith has earned her bachelor (1997) and master’s (2002) degrees from Michigan State University and has been principal at Merriman for a year.
Before that, she served as Title 1 Learning Specialist at Wick Elementary, taught fourth grade at Merriman for seven years, and interned in a Detroit classroom.
Personnel Director Linda Olson said there were a lot of very good potential candidates and the selection was not an easy process.
Dr. Olson said out of the 463 applicants seeking an elementary principal position on Applitrack, more than 100 were interested in the Van Buren job posting with about 45 meeting most of the qualifications. Interviews were offered to 12, with seven responding. Two were called back for second interviews.
Prior to the second interviews, each candidate was asked to spend a full day in Rawsonville Elementary.
The interview team was made up of Curriculum Director/Deputy Supt. Peggy Voigt, Farber, Olson, principal Aleisa Pitts and two teachers, Lindsay Pawlowski and Kahlia Kaiger.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the board approved the employment of Stephanie Kerns as the Transition Specialist at Belleville High School for the 2010-11 school year.
At its May 10 meeting, the board approved a plan that outlined the process to move students from the Alternative High School, which is closing, to BHS this fall. One component of the plan was the hiring of a Transition Specialist.
Kerns was employed as an English Language Arts teachers at the alternative school.
Voigt said the salary for the position is still being negotiated.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:
* Approved a Schools of Choice Program Declaration for grades K-12. School Supt. Tom Riutta said since the district had lost 400 students, there is room, but if certain schools become full, students can be put on waiting lists;
* Approved membership in the Michigan Association of School Boards for 2010-11 school year at a cost of $7,086. Last year the district’s benefit of membership included more than $100,000 in reduced cost due to insurance pools;
* Approved Michigan High School Athletic Association membership for the middle school and BHS for the 2010-11 school year;
* Approved getting Chase “P” credit cards for department heads and employees to use to minimize cost of purchase orders, payment mailings, etc. Proper controls are being put into place, Business Office Manager Pam Smart assured the board;
* Approved revised student handbooks for the elementary schools and BHS. The middle school handbook will be ready for approval at a future meeting;
* Approved the second reading and final approval of a revised board policy on supervision of construction for the present bond project. The Change Orders wording removes “under emergency situation” and removes “significant and/or” because the phrases were deemed vague;
* Heard a presentation by Rebecca Schmidt on the grant-supported, Positive Behavior Support project that is being implemented in six of the nine schools in the district;
* Congratulated the Bus Roadeo team that won first place in recent competition, dethroning Westland, the usual winner. They are heading to the state competition on June 22;
* Heard parent Greg Powell again address the board concerning the affect of the construction on use of the athletic fields by students and asked for a schedule of when they will be available. He said, in a letter to the board, that his son was a varsity baseball player for BHS as a freshman and sophomore and has the ability to play college ball, if given the proper opportunity. He said there is a two-year window that will determine if his son and many others will become college student athletes;
* Approved the retirements of bus drivers Thomas Anderson (6 years) and Peggy Proffit (2 years) and Denise Dickerson, an At-Risk paraprofessional at North Middle School, after 26.5 years;
* Approved the requested termination of teacher Stephanie Barkman, of North Middle School/Tyler/Rawsonville, after three years of service, for relocation;
* Was advised that 17 teachers were recommended for tenure in April: Angela Mays, Tracie McKeon, Veronica Rodriguez-Coker, Alicia Dubisky, Sara Higgins, Andrew Hartman, Yvonne Mallon, Jason Butka, Angeline Dermody, Joseph Brodie, Sarah Avery, Jami Wiese, Stephanie Nota, Jennifer Runyan, Lisa Myers, Anita Norman, and Stephanie Kerns; and
* Went into executive session with district attorney Gary Collins to discuss contract negotiations.