School Board Overcomes Turmoil, Retains Superintendent
By Ryan Schlehuber

After a long and emotional discussion, including a twohour executive session, Mackinac Island Public School Superintendent Roger Schrock was given an unanimous vote of confidence by the Board of Education Thursday, March 22, and will serve the remaining two years of his three-year contract. In doing so, however, the board expressed a need for better communication among school leaders, within the school system, and with the community.

Dr. Schrock was hired last August with a three-year contract that allowed for a reevaluation after the first year. The contract ends June 30, 2009.

The escape clause was to give both sides a chance to terminate the agreement if either were dissatisfied after the first year.

Frustration had been brewing for the past few months and more than 30 people crowded in the school's library for the evaluation. Several members of a packed audience, and some board members, complained about a lack of administrative protocol, professional courtesy, and poor communication between the school board, the superintendent, staff, and the community. The superintendent, some charged, is divisive.

Others called for patience in allowing the superintendent to find solid footing in a new school, and three students told the board they liked Dr. Schrock.

"I feel very comfortable here," said 10th grade student Arial Leeper. "This is the first year we have had a fire drill. Dr. Schrock makes me feel comfortable."

Discussion of whether to renew Dr. Schrock's contract came at the conclusion of the board's regular meeting agenda, and immediately after a five-minute recess, Trustee Jason St. Onge, an outspoken supporter of Dr. Schrock, moved to extend the superintendent's contract.

"Everybody is here, it's been the topic of the town, I'm going to throw it right out there," said Mr. St. Onge. "I don't expect a vote in the next 30 seconds, there'll be some discussion, but I'm going to make a motion to extend the option on Dr. Schrock's contract."

Trustee Sara Chambers seconded the motion, however, trustees Patricia Martin and Leanne Brodeur believed the issue should be tabled to allow the board time to review Dr. Schrock's evaluations. Board members received a compilation of each trustee's evaluations that evening.

Mr. St. Onge pressed for a vote, saying the school's attorney told him state law required the board to take action by March 30 or the contract would automatically be renewed, overriding wording in the school's contract with Dr. Schrock.

Trustee Paul Wandrie also supported a vote.

"He has to know where he stands now," he said of Dr. Schrock. "He's got to know up front."

Speaking as a concerned citizen and noting that she is not taking pay for recording minutes of the meeting, school secretary Barb Fisher spoke of the frustration between staff and Dr. Schrock.

"Maybe I'm putting my job on the line here, and if I am, believe me, I'm scared saying this, but I have had the worst year since I've been here," she said. "There is so much mistrust. Nobody trusts anybody right now. The staff is grumbling. We don't function well, we don't communicate. The superintendent communicates with only a couple of board members, not with all of them. . . .There's been way too many discussions that are held that not the whole board is a part of," she continued. "There is way too much good-old-boy syndrome."

Mrs. Fisher believes issues need to be addressed out in the open, among all board members.

"There are lots of concerns, and maybe these concerns can be addressed, but they have to be addressed by the whole board," she said. "Some of them are left out in the cold."

As solutions to some of the issues, Ms. Brodeur suggested that agenda items that require action by the board should allow time for board education and discussion. She also asked that no action be taken on items that are added to the agenda at the last minute, and that public comment be allowed at the end of the agenda, instead of at the beginning of a meeting.

"My concerns are that there are issues brought up as an action item before we are able to discuss it," she said. "It's not a fair thing to do. It seems we are rushing things through."

Adding public comment toward the end of the agenda, Ms. Brodeur said, will also allow the audience who attend the meetings to react to the issues that the board is discussing.

Ms. Martin asked that Dr. Schrock make available to all board members the correspondence addressed to the board and school. She cited a letter regarding the board's offer of a buy-out option for tenured teachers, which she never saw.

Dr. Schrock said he responded to the letter personally, as directed by Mr. Mosley.

"We need the whole board to look at that," responded Ms. Martin.

From the audience, Erin Bagbey, a school graduate, said communication from the staff and teachers to Dr. Schrock must be improved, as well.

"I think a chain of command needs to be followed, and I think the school hasn't had a chain of command for a long time," she said. "We've had [former superintendents] Mr. [Gary] Urman and Mr. [Jack] Dehring, and they're like friends; we've grown with them and lived with them in the community," she said, "and now, all of a sudden, somebody's coming in and he's seeing stuff needing to be changed and he's changing things right away and he's stepping up to the plate and doing what's best for the kids. I think a lot of the staff members have a problem with that."

Dr. Donald Weersing, the Island's year-around physician and a parent of five children, expressed sympathy for Dr. Schrock's position and the school's difficulty in adjusting to a new superintendent this year.

"I feel sorry for the employees of the school and I feel sorry for Dr. Schrock," he said. "I know what it's like to come into an institution that has been in the community for a long time, and try to do a good job. There is a certain amount of status quo and certain amount of change that has to be made. There is a lot of misunderstanding, especially when somebody comes in from outside and has changes.

"I don't think, from what I've seen, Dr. Schrock has been jumping in, making a lot of changes," added Dr. Weersing. "There is a lot of mistrust and misunderstanding because we don't know where it's going to go. Nine months, one year, is not enough time for an administrator to come into a facility that has been going on for 20 years and make changes. That would be very irresponsible.

"I understand where there is mistrust and being uncomfortable," said Dr. Weersing, "but I also have support for Dr. Schrock and found him to be compassionate, professional, and caring about my children more than anything else."

Former superintendent Richard Bolander said he wondered if teachers at staff meetings are confronting the issues with the superintendent, or giving lip service and complaining behind his back.

"I know this goes on from experience," he said, "and I wonder if that is going on here."

Teacher Vicki Urman, however, took issue with the characterization of the staff, by some parents and board members, as defensive and disruptive.

"The staff is not opposed to change," she said. "We are a progressive staff."

She noted that teachers are dedicated to their jobs and are not afraid of evaluations or afraid of change.

Dr. Schrock requested his evaluation be discussed by the board in private, and during a two-hour executive session that followed, the board made a pact to communicate with one another better, Mr. St. Onge said Monday, March 26.

"The biggest problem in all of this is a breakdown in communication," he said. "We agreed that each one of us needs to communicate more, send more memos, call one another on the phone."

Mr. St. Onge warned at Thursday's meeting that personality clashes among the school board, teachers, and front office distract the school from educating students.

Dr. Schrock agreed that everyone in the school system, including himself, needs to do a better job of communicating with one another.

"This executive session was very productive," announced board president Ben Mosley after the board reconvened and voted to continue Dr. Schrock's contract. "We went over the evaluations. Dr. Schrock explained some things, some board members explained some things.

"Out of this evaluation, it's not only going to be a working tool for Dr. Schrock, but it will be a working tool for myself and the board."

Mr. Mosley added that the board learned "there was some perceptions and things that people had that may or may not have been there, mostly not been there."

The board's vote was taken with fewer than half the audience remaining, and while voting unanimously, several hesitated to vote yes.

Ms. Brodeur, in voting to extend Dr. Schrock's contract, paused before stating, "It's hard. I wasn't going to do this tonight. This is in support of the unity of our school, our teachers, our staff, and for our kids to move forward in a positive manner. I will be working very hard towards making this work."

Ms. Martin agreed. "We had a very constructive discussion this evening," she said. "I'm hoping with the ideas that were brought forth [during the executive session] and with some of the changes that are going to be made, that the school will move along properly and that we can get to where we need to go and take care of our kids properly," said Ms. Martin, before voting. "So, in support of the school, I shall vote yes."

After the vote, some of the audience applauded. Board President Ben Mosley said after the meeting that he believes the meeting's procedures are fine. As for postponing action to facilitate discussion, he said, "The board members have a right to table something, as long as a majority of the board agrees."

Both Mr. Mosley and Ms. Brodeur admit there are times the board is faced with having to make a decision on an issue that is timely, however, Ms. Brodeur said, "I'd like to see a little bit more information come through in our packets, to be more informed, when we can."

Mr. Mosley also told the Town Crier that the public is allowed to address the board during any public discussion, so where public input is reserved on the agenda is irrelevant.

"The only reason I can think of why people would need to comment at the end of a meeting is to get clarification on something we discussed, but they are allowed to do that during our normal [meeting] discussion," he said.

As for the correspondence issue, Ms. Martin said after the meeting, "We, as a board, are planning to discuss how correspondence should be handled."

In other discussions during the regular portion of the meeting, Ms. Martin said she believes the board needs to update its superintendent evaluation form, as it has not been reviewed or updated in six years.

"We need to look at the process and perhaps add features in there that I've seen from other schools, such as adding comments from teachers and staff members," said Ms. Martin.

Ms. Brodeur said Les Cheneaux Community Schools is one school that recently invited teachers and staff to submit evaluations, although they are not weighed in the approval rating given by the board.

The school's negotiations committee will look into extending its pay scale for incoming teachers in the new teachers contract, in hopes of attracting more applicants for the vacant special education teacher position. The school's negotiations committee and the teachers union are still negotiating a new contract.

Ms. Martin, chairwoman of the school's personnel committee, suggested the pay scale be extended from five years of teaching experience to 10 years.

As it stands now, an incoming teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience would qualify for the first step (or years of experience) in the pay scale, which amounts to $30,317 as a starting salary.

A teacher with 10 years of experience would qualify for the fifth and highest level of scheduled raises and would earn $38,152, under the existing teachers contract. If the pay scale is extended to 10 years, an incoming teacher with 10 years of experience (with only a bachelor's degree) could be paid a starting salary of $46,894.

"There were a couple of teachers with a lot of experience that could have come aboard, but because of the cap of no more than five years, it was a bit of a pay cut for them," said Ms. Martin. "We need someone really good here, and I think we can afford to extend the cap to 10 years."

Mr. Wandrie, chairman of the school's policy committee, said he will discuss the issue at his next committee meeting.

Also to be discussed by that committee will be the school's dress code.

During a board school improvement meeting February 5, a few parents said they are concerned about the way students are dressed and asked who enforces the policy.

Mr. Wandrie said the committee is continuing to review the issue with the school's attorney. As far as enforcing the policy, Mr. Mosley said it is an administrative responsibility.

"If a parent or teacher sees something inappropriate, it is an administrative judgment, not the teachers' responsibility," said Mr. Mosley.

Because a new teachers contract has yet to be settled, adjusting the pay scale cap is a viable option, said Dr. Schrock.

The board amended its board compensation policy, adding a maximum number of regular and special meetings board members can be paid for attending, which was set at 12 regular meetings and six special meetings a year.

At February's regular meeting, the board agreed to raise the regular board meeting compensation for board members from $30 to $35 per meeting, and special board meetings from no pay to $15 per meeting.

Dr. Schrock announced Mary Patay as the school's new golf coach and Jeff Ferguson as the new track coach.

Miss Patay is the school's physical education teacher and former soccer coach. Mr. Ferguson is the school's high school science teacher.

Dr. Schrock reminded the board that it has received a letter from a state Republican party representative asking to lease the school building during its conference at Grand Hotel September 22 and 23. Dr. Schrock said the building would be used as a polling site for the party.

No action was taken on the issue.

Football coaches in St. Ignace will visit with Island students who are interested in joining the team, which is a Michigan High School Athletic Association program that allows students from smaller districts to play organized sports at another school nearby.

Island players have regularly participated on the St. Ignace football and baseball teams.