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The Lansing Board of Education picked community members to participate on the 22-member committee that will help board members choose the next Superintendent of schools in their Monday meeting this week.  Notice went out that two groups of six would be included, along with two representatives from district constituencies such as the teacher's union.  "We're selecting six community members and six parent volunteers," explained School Board President Tom Keane.  "People were asked to nominate themselves for these two committees."


The names of the nominees went into two baskets.  The parents group included interested parents of kids who are going to school in Lansing.  The community member group encompassed anyone who lives within the district, but does not have children in the schools.  District Office Secretary Jodie Rusaw picked the names from the first basket.  Patricia Thomas, Becky Roberts, Bob Rasmussen, Vicky Bland, Julie Boles, Nancy Knowles were chosen.

But only four community members had nominated themselves for the 'community members' group.  Tom Jones, Cynthia Howell, Ted Laux, and David Dubin all automatically became part of the committee. 

A discussion followed on whether two more names should be chosen from the first basket.  The concerns were that if eight parents and four community members were chosen, one point of view would outnumber the other.  But some board members thought having more people on the committee would give them more input when it comes time to choose a candidate.  "I would say pick two candidates," said board member Sandy Dhimitri.  "We have the space for that number.  We have more people interested.  Why not have more people be involved?"

Anne Drake, Keane, and Glenn Swanson agreed.  "I would recommend picking two more parents," he said.  "They are all community members."

David Dittman was against it at first, but changed his mind.  "The only reason I said not to was that we were trying to get different representation on the committee," he said.  "To get different points of view, and not have one group overwhelmed by the other."

The board had settled on a 22 member group in a previous meeting at which consultants William Silky and Lucy Martin explained that the chances of getting more and better candidates increase the more confidential a search is.  Board member Mike Cheatham favored a smaller group based on that advice, but others on the board felt uncomfortable cutting out community involvement.  The number 22 was seen as a compromise.

Lilly Chan and Bonnie Fiorelli were picked from the basket to fill  out the committee.The group met on Tuesday to work on creating a candidate profile, and another meeting was also held that was open to the community to collect input from those who are not on the committee.

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