By Sterling McGinn
The Tahquamenon Area Schools (TAS) Board of Education will soon begin their search for a new district superintendent following the official acceptance of longtime superintendent Stacy Price’s retirement at the December 16 meeting of the board.
The meeting took place at 6 p.m. in the new board of education meeting room (formerly the elementary library).
At last month’s meeting, Price announced her intent to retire on June 30, 2025. Price has been with the district for 30 years.
One of the items on the agenda that evening was a presentation by Dr. Tim Hall from the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB).
His presentation explained the process of the association’s assistance in securing a new superintendent, if the board choses that route.
The MASB is a voluntary, non-profit association of local and intermediate boards of education throughout the State of Michigan.
“Hiring your superintendent might be singularly your most important job,” Hall told the board. “We want to find the appropriate candidate with a focus on longevity.”
No board action was taken on the matter. The board will hear a presentation from the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI), another firm that could assist in the superintendent search. MLI will give a presentation to the board in January.
In other news, the board accepted kindergarten teacher Brenda Browning’s intent to retire from the district at the close of the school year. Her retirement would take affect on June 30, 2025.
“We very much thank Brenda, and she has a little more time than I do in the building,” Price said. “Many of it was spent in kindergarten, bringing those little ones into the building and sharing her love of reading and books.”
The board also convened in two separate closed sessions that evening with the first to meet for the purpose of attorney-client privilege. No information was given when reconvening to open session.
The second closed session was for the superintendent’s evaluation. After reconvening in open session, the board voted to deem TAS superintendent Stacy Price as “developing in her role as superintendent of TAS.” The new rating scale for evaluations is: Needing support, Developing, or Effective.
Finally, Stacy Price thanked outgoing school board members Bruce Klusmeyer, Laura Generou, Stuart McTiver, and Larry Vincent for their years of service to the board of education.
January’s meeting will welcome Colleen Duflo, Amanda Kitzman, and Jeff Puckett as new board members.
