The South Lyon Community Schools Board of Education members. | South Lyon Community School District/Facebook
The South Lyon Community Schools Board of Education members. | South Lyon Community School District/Facebook
Several changes were made to the South Lyon Community Schools' Board of Education at its Jan. 17 meeting.
New board members Ann Rimanelli and Patrick Macguire were brought onto the board after being elected in November. The board also nominated and elected their new officers for the year of 2023.
They chose Anthony Abbate to be the board president for the year and Daniel Schwegler for vice president. Jennifer Urtel was nominated for the position of secretary, and the treasurer was Martin Leftwich. Only Urtel had previously served in the position she was chosen for.
“For folks in the audience and online, these positions are selected yearly,” Abbate said in the meeting. “I think ideally rotating through as a board is a good thing, builds our capacity for leadership and our skills. So, there will be these opportunities each year as they come up. And we'd love to have people move through these different spots and feel like everybody on the board has had an opportunity to lead and to build their skill set.”
Superintendent Steven Archibald also took time to recognize all of the board members and thank them for their service to the district and the community, because January is School Board Member Appreciation month in Michigan.
“For nearly two years our school board has provided steadfast resolve through a steady flow of diversity and challenge,” he said in the meeting. “Your focus has students at its core with the primary objective of providing the best educational opportunities for all students. As a school community, we can find tremendous reassurance in the fact that no matter what challenges lie ahead in 2023—and be it known that as a school board, we will not always or you will not always agree. But there is absolutely no doubt that this body—while you may not agree on everything—I question if there's anything that you will not be able to work through, and work through in a manner that is in the best interests of our students, our staff and our community at large.”
The board also voted in the meeting to hire three new staff to the district. They brought on Bethany Gilchrist as a general education social worker at Brummer Elementary; Deanna DeTorres, a new first grade teacher at Kent Lake Elementary; and Amanda Fitch, who will be a Level 3 resource room teacher at Hardy Elementary.
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