Battle Creek Times

Members of the Battle Creek Public Schools Board of Education restructured themselves and received new assignments at their Jan. 9 meeting recorded on Facebook Live.

The board had said goodbye to members Kyra Wallace and Jacqueline Slaby, whose terms were up at the end of December, and welcomed newly elected Nicole Perry and Dr. Elishae Johnson in their places, along with member Art McClenney, who was reelected in his position.

The new members will serve two-year terms, and they took their oaths in front of the board and all community members who watched the meeting. Both of the new members are former Battle Creek Public School students.

The board members also took on new assignments within the board and which schools they specifically will be partnering with. The tradition on the board is to move trustees up a seat each new officer period, though it is not a requirement.

The new assignments are as follows: Nathan Grajek was chosen as the new treasurer, and his partner schools were Fremont International Academy, Outdoor Education Center and Adult Education.

The new secretary is McClenney, whose schools include Battle Creek Central High School and Dudley STEM Elementary. Charlie Fulbright was nominated as the new vice president, and his schools were Post-Franklin Elementary and BC Area Math & Science Center.

Finally, Patty Poole-Gray took the position of president for Catherine LaValley and will work with Northwestern Middle School and Ann J. Kellogg Elementary.

LaValley (LaMora Park Elementary, Valley View Elementary), Johnson (W.K. Kellogg Preparatory High School, Springfield Middle School) and Perry (Battle Creek STEM Innovation Center, Verona Elementary) remain trustees.

“We're all a big family here at Battle Creek Public Schools, and all we're trying to do is to learn as much as possible about the buildings that are under our review or just be able to be visible in their buildings when they have activities happening,” LaValley said at the meeting.  “If you have children in the buildings already, you're still more than welcome to go to their events. That's what parents do. And so I would think that we could all go around and name the building that you would like to be responsible for.”

Three board members also chose some committees to help serve on, and Poole-Gray and Fulbright volunteered for the student reinstatement committee.  McClenney, Perry and LaValley will serve on the board policy committee, while Johnson and Grajek were selected for the Battle Creek Education Foundation.