By By JESSICA SIEFF / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Both Niles and Brandywine school boards met last night, welcoming their new members along with tending to their respective agendas.
Settling in as president of the Niles Community Schools Board of Education is Elaine Miller. She follows former president Scott Tyler. Superintendent Doug Law said Monday that this would be Miller's second time serving as president. He added that she has been a member of the school board for approximately 14 years.
The board also welcomed new member, Kathy Zeider.
The Niles Community School Board of Education for this year is:
Elaine Miller – President
Dana Daniels – Vice President
Michael Waldron – Secretary
Michael Dreher – Treasurer
Scott Tyler – Member
Jerry French – Member
Kathy Zeider – Member
The board also reviewed their annual resolutions, continuing their relationships with school attorneys, auditors and architects among others. And an economic package was scheduled for approval for the school's secretaries. The three-year contract includes a 2 percent wage increase.
"The district now has ratified contracts with all of our unions," said Law before the meeting.
Inside the Bell Education Center Conference Room, there was quite a bit of excitement that could be heard out in the hallways at the start of Brandywine's board of education meeting.
After the introduction of two new members, Janis Exner and Robb DeJonge, the board, along with Superintendent John Jarpe gave special recognition to the Brandywine Varsity Baseball team. "It was really a pleasure, and real exciting for me, to watch you play ball," said Jarpe as he addressed the team. "And the board and I officially congratulate you."
Coach David Sidebender was also in attendance to praise the district and regional champions. "We're gonna win it next year," he said. As he introduced each teammate to the board, he added, "this is a great group to work with. It was fun coming to practice everyday."
As the team filed out of the meeting, the board got back to business and approved its officers. The Brandywine School Board of Education for this year is:
Jim Curran – President
Dennis Cooper – Vice President
Phil Bozung – Secretary
Dennis Hinsey – Treasurer
Robb DeJonge – Member
Janis Exner – Member
Rick Zache – Member
The face of the school board wasn't the only one to see changes Monday night. Brandywine will lose two long time instructors this year and welcome a fresh new face.
Jarpe announced the retirement of Ron Bailey and Jim Myers. Each of them, Jarpe said, has 30 years of teaching with the school. "Both of these gentlemen have put in virtually all of their careers here at Brandywine," he said. "And I accepted their resignations with regret … They will be missed."
In addition the board welcomed David Allen as the high school's television communication teacher. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Allen spent 27 years at WSBT.
Finally, the board voted to reject bids that had been offered for construction of a new track for the school system. Jarpe said that time allowed them to look into more suitable bids than what they've received. "We're going to seriously look at the specs of the bids," he said. "(To) see if there's some items we can adjust on that."
The board also mentioned their awareness that police are still looking into the fire, allegedly set deliberately, that engulfed the old Bell School last month. Jarpe said asbestos inspections had taken place at the property and that officials would hopefully be able to move on with demolition of the building soon.