Chelsea voters to elect two Board of Education members Tuesday
Chelsea School District voters will head to the polls Tuesday to fill two seats on the school board.
Incumbent Laurel McDevitt is running unopposed for a 4-year term on the board, while two candidates, Jon Bentley and Kathy Keinath, are vying for a partial term on the board that expires on June 30, 2013.
McDevitt, 42, has served on the board since 2003. Among her board activities, she’s served as vice president, president, treasurer and secretary as well as chairman of finance committee and personnel committee.
She’s married and has three children in the Chelsea School District.
AnnArbor.com sent the candidates for the contested seat a short survey about their candidacy. One candidate replied, and here’s what he had to say.
PERSONAL INFORMATION: 46, married, four children
OCCUPATION: Manager of Business Intelligence and Planning Applications, Carhartt Inc. in Dearborn
EDUCATION: Chelsea High School alumnus, bachelor's of Business Administration in computer information systems from Eastern Michigan University, 1988
PREVIOUS ELECTED OFFICE: Chelsea Board of Education, 2002-2010 (2 terms)
CURRENT PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY SERVICE: Chelsea Athletic Boosters, 2010 to present
TOP TWO ISSUES 1. Communication - School Finance 2. Budget Control/Revenue Generation
SUMMARY OF HOW TO ADDRESS THEM: 1. Making sure that the community is aware of the situation that our school district is facing and giving them an opportunity to weigh in on some of the difficult decisions that we are faced with. Our administrative team has done a great job of this in the past through community forums and brainstorming sessions. My plan would be to continue to support the level of communication required to bring clarity to the financial issues that face our school district.
2. To be successful in such a tough economic time, you have to be creative with managing your expenses and look for potential revenue opportunities. Our school district has done a good job of managing funds and utilizing them creatively. Revenue generation for school districts is very limited but we may need to start looking for some options outside of our normal means as cost-cutting continues to become more challenging.
KATHY KEINATH: Did not respond to AnnArbor.com despite repeated requests for information. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page.
Comments
Dr. I. Emsayin
Mon, May 2, 2011 : 1:53 a.m.
Chelsea neighbors, please renew the millage on Tuesday when you go to vote. Our special education students will receive services whether we pass the millage or not, but our general education students (and most special education students are in primarily general education classes) will suffer if schools have to cut general education spending to afford special education funding which is State mandated. Looking forward to a good voter turnout and strong support for education on May 3.