Public concerns about an ongoing pattern of conflict between teachers and administration were aired at a Mackinac Island school board meeting Thursday, March 19. At the meeting, the board approved a buy-out for kindergarten teacher Vicki Urman and approved board evaluations of Superintendent Roger Schrock.

The board met privately for more than an hour with Dr. Schrock to discuss his evaluations. The superintendent had requested the discussion be closed to the public, and after the closed meeting, the board accepted the evaluations without any public comment.

Discussions between Mrs. Urman, Trustee Jason St. Onge, and Dr. Schrock continued for days after the meeting, but she has told the board she will retire at the end of the school year. She will be paid $96,000, which is 1.5 times her annual salary, plus she will receive medical insurance premiums estimated to be worth as much as $20,000. Her annual salary is approximately $64,000.

The buy-out was requested by Mrs. Urman. Once she accepts the terms, the agreement will be forwarded to the school's legal counsel for review. The cost of the buyout will be taken from the school's general fund and replenished from its fund equity, where close to $1 million is on reserve.

Mrs. Urman is teaching a class of eight students this year and will be eligible for retirement when she turns 55 in November. Her husband, Gary, was superintendent at Mackinac Island until 2004, when he left for a similar post at Boyne Falls.

Candidates are being sought to fill Mrs. Urman's position as kindergarten teacher.

Parent Asks Board: How Is Superintendent's Work Judged?

While public discussion of Dr. Schrock's board evaluations was kept to a minimum before an audience that included several teachers, the senior class (attending to present its senior trip to the board), and a few parents, much discussion took place about how each board member ascertains his or her information to assess the quality of Dr. Schrock's work, a process called in question by one parent at the beginning of the meeting.

Concerned that Mrs. Urman's early exit was a result of discontent between teachers and the administration, including board president Ben Mosley, who pulled one of his sons from Mrs. Urman's kindergarten class in January, Lynda Hepker, a parent of one of the school's elementary students, questioned each board member as to what they based their evaluation on, how involved they are at the school, and how often they converse with faculty, staff, and students.

Mrs. Urman was in attendance, however, she made no comment during the meeting. She told The St. Ignace News she will not comment as to why she is leaving after 25 years of teaching at the school. The superintendent also would not comment on the reason.

Mr. Mosley declined to say why he pulled two of his children from the school, but said they are being home-schooled. Dr. Schrock pointed out that because the district receives enough funding from non-homestead taxes, it receives no per-pupil funding from the state, so loss of students does not impact the budget as much as it would for a school that relies on per-pupil funding.

Neither Dr. Schrock, Mrs. Urman, or Mr. Mosley offered any comment to the public about whether there is any problem between teachers and the administration.

Board members used an evaluation form that asks them to rate Dr. Schrock's performance in seven categories (relationship with the board, budget, staff relationship, personal qualities, community relationships, leadership in education, and student relationships) on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest rating. There are 20 questions overall in the evaluation. Trustees can write comments, as well.

Mr. Mosley explained that after he collects each board member's evaluations, he averages the scores. He then removes the highest and lowest score for each question, to avoid skewing the average, considering there are only seven board members, he explained to the audience.

It is the trimmed average score that the board considers in its final evaluation of the superintendent.

Including all scores in each question, Dr. Schrock's evaluation averaged out to 6.87 out of 10 points. With the deletions of the highest and lowest score in each question, his rating was increased to 7.48.

Last year, Dr. Schrock received a rating of 8.6, including high and low scores.

His contract expires June 30, 2012.

Mrs. Hepker asked board members how often they visit the school, and asked each board member specific questions on how they based their evaluation in each of the seven categories.

Some board members, like Sara Chambers and Leanne Brodeur, said they have daily interaction with teachers, staff, and students, while other board members, such as Larry Rickley and Terry Andress, said they do not visit the school that often during class hours.

Trustees Kelly Bean and Mr. Mosley said they have some interaction among teachers and students at home or in town, such as when their children entertain friends, but not as much at the school.

Trustee Jason St. Onge was absent.

Sara Chambers said for many board members, it is hard to visit the school regularly, while working full-time jobs.

Mrs. Hepker responded, saying, "That is something you should think about before these positions are taken.

"I just wanted to see the validity and depth of this report that we are being handed here tonight," she said. "Is there some depth there? Is there some knowledge there? Or did we just draw [information] off the street?"

Caution Advised in School Board Involvement With Staff

Conflicts

Board members should be careful of their involvement, however, and not micro-manage the administration, cautioned Brad Banasik, legal counsel for the Michigan Association of School Boards in an interview with the Town Crier Friday, March 20.

"In my opinion, as board members, a relationship with staff is part of the evaluation, but they have to be careful with that. I'm not sure popping into the school building is the right way."

The administration, he noted, has responsibility for the day-today operations. It is the superintendent's job to inform the board of conflicts among staff, especially when involving administration, he said, and it is the board's responsibility to make sure the superintendent is performing his or her duties and keeping the peace within the school system.

"If a board member is aware of a complaint, he or she should discuss it with the superintendent," he added. "They, and the parents, have to realize a board's main responsibility is hiring a superintendent and going through that person for updates on day-to-day operations."

Mr. Banasik said an evaluation of a superintendent should include established goals and objectives, a checklist that each board member can follow during an evaluation.

"I'm not aware of any evaluation process that involves board members having to interview teachers and students and be a constant presence in the school system," he said.

Handling problems within the school, whatever they may be, he said, should start with the superintendent.

"There is a fine line that has to be drawn there," he said of the depth of board member involvement within the school. "You do not want the perception of having to go around the superintendent to resolve an issue. A board member should be asking for a reasoning behind complaints and should go to him for an explanation."

The Island school board's evaluation form is similar to the form suggested by the Michigan Association of School Boards, although it does not include a list of expected goals for the superintendent, as the association suggests.

Trustee Leanne Brodeur, after the meeting, said that is something she would like to reinsert into the evaluation form. Such a list has not been used since Dr. Schrock was hired in August 2006.

New Teacher Hire, Maintenance Projects Suggested

In other board business, Dr. Schrock asked the board's personnel committee to begin reviewing the possibility of hiring another teacher to meet at least one of the school's several needs, as, he said, "the window of opportunity is opening soon," as job-seeking college students will be graduating soon. The school's needs include a music teacher, foreign language teacher, and business and finance teacher.

Dr. Schrock also asked that the buildings and grounds committee meet soon to address the need to paint the school's storage building.

Teacher Karen Allen also noted that the committee needs to erect a sign that was made for the school years ago, and Dr. Schrock added that a bronze plaque that was taken down during construction of the school's new gymnasium needs to be put back up for display.

Students from the senior class presented a slide show about their intended class trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, which they intend to make May 7 through May 12. The board approved the trip.

The board reviewed a request by Jack Armstrong to allow the Mackinac Horsemen's Association to use the school's bathrooms during its Festival of the Horse July 23 through July 25, when some events will be held near the school grounds. Mr. Mosley suggested Dr. Schrock work with Mr. Armstrong to come to an established agreement.

Governor's Proposed Cuts Could Leave Island School

$189K Short

Previous to this meeting, Dr. Schrock cautioned the board to watch for possible cuts to state aid funding, specifically the Saving Paradise funding and Michigan Business Tax, citing Governor Jennifer Granholm's proposed cuts to the state budget.

The school may lose $4,700 from a "Hold Harmless" fund, as well.

The Island school receives $85,000 from the Saving Paradise fund, which aids geographicallyisolated schools that cannot consolidate, and $100,000 from the business tax, where "out-of-formula" schools draw funding from personal property taxes on businesses.

The Michigan Business Tax was enacted last year but left at least two dozen schools, including Mackinac Island, out of formula districts, said Dr. Schrock. As a remedy, a relief fund of $1.3 million was set up for the 2009 state budget, but Governor Granholm has proposed that be cut.

The state annually contributes $750,000 through the Saving Paradise fund to aid in operation finances for Burt Township (Grand Marais), Mackinac Island, DeTour Area Schools, Beaver Island, and Paradise.

Work to restore the funding is already underway, said Dennis Cawthorne, a Mackinac Island businessman and Lansing lobbyist for schools, among other things.

"I think there is certainly a fair possibility those funds will be restored when the Legislature takes final action on the bill, which is a couple months off yet," he told the Town Crier in March. "We're working to get those monies reinserted. It's still going to take a lot of diligent work."

Burt Township received a larger portion than usual from the Saving Paradise funding to meet expenses to keep the doors to the school open this year. The school has 63 students enrolled.