Kate Ter Haar In the Les Cheneaux Community Schools district elections, May 6, voters will be asked to renew 18 mills for operations, approve a half-mill for school improvements, and vote for two candidates running unopposed for four-year terms on the school board. Incumbent Kate Ter Haar, who was appointed to complete an unexpired term, is now seeking a full term. Marcia Perkins is seeking election to the seat previously held by Dave Sudol, who is not running this year. Two millage requests are also on the ballot.

Residents can vote from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Clark Township Community Center on M-134 in Cedarville.

The district will also ask voters to renew the 18-mill levy for one year against non-homestead properties, such as second homes, hunting camps, and commercial properties. The millage contributes $2,309,409, or 63% of the district's operational revenue of about $3.69 million. Money generated by the 18-mill levy is used for general fund operations like salaries, books, regular education programs, lunch, transportation, and utilities.

Marcia Perkins The 0.5 mill proposal would levy taxes against all properties for five years and would be collected in place of a 0.5 mill levy for facilities improvements that expires this year. It will allow the school to sell bonds in the amount of $470,000 for roof replacement and technology improvements.

Specifically, the money will be used to replace three large sections of roof and for technology improvements, including a new elementary computer laboratory, new technology classroom computers, a new middle and high school computer laboratory, new infrastructure, software licenses, adapting classrooms to the new technology, replacing 10-year-old computers and other aging classroom technology, and improving the technology students use to access Michigan Virtual High School and Advanced Placement classes.

Owing to refinancing two other bonds, the millage to repay them will drop from 3.3664 mills to 2.62 mills, even if the May bond issue passes.

Marcia Perkins

Mrs. Perkins, 54, is a registered nurse who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs as the nursing coordinator for a small, community-based outpatient clinic in Kincheloe, and she is getting certified as a diabetic educator. She and her husband, Norm, have lived in Cedarville for more than 42 years. They own a charter fishing and tour business there, and have two grown children, Jason, 31, and Hilary, 27, and four grandchildren.

Mrs. Perkins' experience includes eight years at her job, five years on the Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce, a current term on the First Union Church board, and 12 previous years on the board of education. While on the board, she served on various committees, and maintained the belief that the board should work to increase parental involvement with staff and students. She also wants the community to feel welcome to share concerns about the school with the board, and she hopes to represent people fairly and responsibly.

Mrs. Perkins believes local service is important, and that people should be involved in their community. She has always considered the school board a way to serve and get to know people, and said her previous experience and training on the board are good preparation for service now.

"I feel like I was trained in leadership, and we need good leadership on the board," Mrs. Perkins said.

She subscribes to the belief that the only way bad things can prevail is when good people sit back and do nothing. That philosophy, based on an Edmund Burke quote, is what motivated her to run for the school board again. She believes community service is more constructive than simply complaining, and that people "should put their complaints into action."

The biggest issues facing the district, in her opinion, are finances and maintaining staff morale in hard times.

Regarding funding, she thinks the board should work creatively to make the school as productive as possible with the money it has.

"We can creatively work together as a group to come up with some solutions," Mrs. Perkins said. "I think our staff and board has already done that by getting grants and funding from other sources besides the state. I think they're doing a great job, and we need to maintain those efforts to seek alternative funding."

Maintaining staff morale is important to her. She said she speaks with staff, and knows they are discouraged by limited school funding, and the apparent lack of interest state lawmakers have for securing more school funding.

"They fund us, but at an inadequate level," she said.

When she previously served on the board, Mrs. Perkins served briefly on a legislative committee that lobbied for more school funding. She is interested in serving a similar role, and being a voice in Lansing.

Kate Ter Haar

Kate Ter Haar, 56, is a Cedarville resident, married to Carl Ter Haar, and they have two grown daughters. She was appointed in 2007 to finish the remainder of Tony Hakola's term on the school board.

Mrs. Ter Haar has worked as the Consolidated Community Schools (CCSS) coordinator for the Les Cheneaux Community Schools district since 1989, and is also the Cedarville Alternative Community Education (ACE) school coordinator.

She has a bachelor's degree in behavioral science from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids. She previously served 11 years on the Board of Education through the 1990s, and she has served on the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District Board of Education since 2001. She was student advocate for the district from 1994 through 2005. She is a member of the Les Cheneaux Education Foundation, and a past member of the Great Lakes Boat Building School board and Les Cheneaux Advisory Committee. She was named the Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year in the 1990s.

Mrs. Ter Haar is running for office because serving on the school board "will allow me to continue advocating for the education of all children in the community," she said.

"Parents, students, school staff, and community members must be partners in the education of children today," she said. "I have been working and volunteering in education for more than 20 years, and would like to continue by being a member of the Les Cheneaux Board of Education."

School funding and aligning the curriculum with state standards are two issues facing the district, she said.

The district, like many others, suffers declining enrollment, she said, "which leads to less dollars coming in, and, sadly, more programs being cut." The state's weakened economy is making the education fund a less reliable source of revenue for schools.

"School districts and boards must be creative in budgeting while still providing quality, educationally sound learning opportunities," she said.

"This can be done through cooperative programming, restructuring existing programs, as well as other means," she said.

Regarding the curriculum, Mrs. Ter Haar said an enormous amount of curriculum alignment has been coordinated by the Eastern Upper Peninsula School District and teachers in the local districts, but, "more remains to be done."

"The board is responsible for establishing and maintaining opportunities that supports these goals and empowers the staff, and provides leadership," she said. "The board must find ways to allow for the enrichment and enhancement of learning that takes place each day in the classroom, and ensures that every student is gaining competence in each subject."