Ben Mosley Re-Elected School Board President
By Leslie Rott

Ben Mosley was re-elected president of the Mackinac Island Board of Education at the board’s annual organizational meeting Thursday, July 7. The meeting also sets the regular meeting schedule and selects the board’s attorney and school bank.

Paul Wandrie was re-elected vice-president of the board and Trish Martin was re-elected secretary. Sara Chambers was re-elected treasurer, beating nominee Jason St. Onge by a vote of four to three.

Mr. St. Onge and Leanne Brodeur were also sworn in as trustees, both having won new terms on the board this spring.

Superintendent Jack Dehring was appointed executive secretary and assistant treasurer to the board, which authorizes him to sign all bank statements. He was also designated as the individual responsible for posting public notices regarding regular and special meetings of the board of education.

A meeting schedule for next year was also approved at the organizational meeting. Meetings will be held the last Thursday of every month, instead of every third Thursday, as Superintendent Dehring has Intermediate School District meetings the third Thursday of most months. Two exceptions will be in November and December, when board meetings will be held the third Thursday to accommodate the Thanksgiving holiday and winter break.

Meetings during the school year will be held at 6 p.m. and during the summer at 7:30 p.m. The Mackinac Island Board of Education will meet as follows: July 28 and August 25, and September 22 at 7:30 p.m., October 27, November 17, December 15, January 26, February 23, March 23, April 27, all at 6 p.m., and May 25 and June 22 at 7:30 p.m.

First National Bank of St. Ignace was chosen as the depository for school funds. Superintendent Dehring said that the bank has been meeting the schools banking needs for many years and he recommended continuing to use their services. The board noted that this was the first organizational meeting in 25 years that was not attended by Jack Ryerse, the Island branch manager of First National Bank of St. Ignace who retired last winter.

The Mackinac Island Board of Education is a member of the Michigan Association of School Boards, and Superintendent Dehring is a member of the Michigan Association of School Administrators and the American Association of School Administrators. The board voted to continue membership in all of those organizations for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

City Clerk Karen Lennard was appointed as the school election administrator. In previous years, the superintendent has acted in that capacity, but the new state election consolidation law has resulted in school and city elections being held on the same day, which will now allow the two entities to share expenses.

The law firm of Thrun, Maatsch, and Nordberg have been the board’s legal counsel for many years and the board voted to keep them as such for the 2005-2006 year. It was also decided that the superintendent and treasurer are designated to use the safe deposit box and two signatures are required on checks of more than $500 in the general and payroll accounts.

The board also re-adopted Policy #5090, which deals with issues of conflict of interest and ethical responsibilities outlines the appropriate chain of command when dealing with conflicts in the school system.

The next regular school board meeting will be July 28 at 7:30 p.m. There will be a special budget hearing before the regular meeting at 7 p.m. and immediately following the budget hearing will be a breakfast program hearing.