Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By MEGAN HUGHES
Bessemer — The Bessemer Area School District board bid a fond farewell to retiring Superintendent Daniel Niemi and K-6 Principal Mark Switzer at their meeting on Monday afternoon.
This was Niemi’s final meeting with the school board, and as such, he ended with his last report as the superintendent at the schools, speaking about how all the students are registered for the upcoming year, and that ongoing searches for a foreign language teacher may change the schedule a bit. After he had completed his report, he offered a thanks to not only the school, but also to the entirety of Bessemer.
“I would like to thank you for the opportunity to service Bessemer. The district, students, instructors, parents. It was the best decisions I have ever made in my career,” said Niemi.
“You came to us in a rather difficult time as superintendent,” said Partanen, “And there were some exciting times after that. We really appreciate your leadership and you leading us for the last three years. ... Thank you very much, and enjoy the best of retirement.”
Niemi was not the only member of the board who was giving his final report this month, with the board voting to accept the resignation of their K-6 principal.
“With regret, we accept the resignation of Mr. Switzer as our K-6 dean of students and principal,” said school board president James Partanen. “Mr. Switzer, I would like to thank you for your time with us. It has not always been a smooth road as we found out this year, but we have weathered the storm and I want to thank you for all the time you have put in. We wish you well.”
“This was the most difficult decision I have ever made, both personally and professionally,” said Switzer. “I thought more about it and it was not just professional decision making, it just takes the cake. I thank everybody for working with me.”
Switzer also acts as the K-12 counselor, and will continue on with this position until his contract ends in August.
“I was under a hybrid contract. So my Principal contract goes through June 30, but my counseling contract goes through Aug. 31, because it was a teacher’s contract,” he added. He went on to explain that he would like to stay and help through the summer, and continue giving support so they are still on top of things until the new school year starts. “I want to make sure that they not only have it (information) but also that they know what to do with it.”
Switzer presented his final update as principal to the board, explaining that the ongoing floor project is going well. “We have some work ahead of us for cleaning due to all of the dust from grinding down floors,” he said.
According to Switzer, he will continue to help work with the school for next year’s curriculum.
“Scheduling is pretty much done until we figure out what our staffing is at the high school level. We are at a really good place,” he said.
The board has also approved both the superintendent and principal contract for Richard Matrella, who will be stepping up into the superintendent position beginning in July. In addition, they approved the contract for the 2023-2026 High School Dean of Students contract for Nick Heikkila.
In other news, the board:
—Approved the financial matters as of May 31.
—Approved the non-homestead millate at 18.0000 mills and the 2019 debt at 1.7500 mills.
—Approved the 2022-2023 Bessemer Area School District final athletic, food service and general fund budgets as presented.
—Approved the 2023-2024 Bessemer Area School District athletic, food service and general fund budget as presented.
—Approved the renewal of the GOISD Business Services Contract beginning July 1 through June 30, 2025.