Bessemer school board members sworn in

BESSEMER - Two new board members and two incumbents were sworn in at a special school board meeting on Wednesday.

Bob Berg and Annette Lillie along with newcomers Beth Steiger and Mary Beth Trudgeon were administered the oath of office by Superintendent Dave Radovich.

Berg was elected as the temporary chairman and Lillie proposed the officers remain the same as well.

Personnel decisions

The board accepted a letter of resignation from para-professional Barb Adams.

The position she left is four and a half hours per day.

"Three hours is food service," said business manager Chris Berquist. The last hour and a half is spent working in "a program that the ISD is actually paying the aid for. It's a speech therapist, online thing," she said.

It will keep the case load of the current speech therapist down, Berquist said.

The school received six applications, none internally, for the position, but Radovich said Patty VanderVelden was the only applicant with extensive food service experience.

The board approved hiring VanderVelden to fill the position.

At the recommendation of A.D. Johnston principal Dan VanderVelden, the board also approved the termination of junior high school English teacher Katherine Adams, with abstention from Steiger.

"What are we doing to replace the old English teacher?" Steiger questioned.

"We are filling internally," Radovich said. "Our counselor is going to teach two hours a day and then we're dropping one class that had a limited amount of students and that teacher will pick up the third class."

"How long was this teacher aware that her position was in jeopardy?" Trudgeon asked.

"Three months. Her response to (a) plan of improvement was inadequate," said Dan VanderVelden.

Radovich said Adams was also assigned mentors.

In other business, the board:

-approved the school to post for a Title position opening at Washington Elementary.

-scheduled the regular board meeting dates and times.

-authorized the appropriate people for signing checks, contact/agreements, purchase orders and electronic transfers.

-set their legal counsel with Thrun Law and depositories for school funds at First National Bank, Gogebic Range Bank and Michigan Liquid Asset Fund Plus.

-designated the Ironwood Daily Globe and Wakefield News/Bessemer Pick and Axe as the official newspapers for the district.