ESCANABA — Before the Escanaba School Board accepted the tendered resignations of Jude VanDamme, Escanaba Junior High principal, and Spring Irving, Escanaba Student Success Center director, Escanaba Superintendent Coby Fletcher advised the board of a planned reconfiguration of the high school administration.

Sixth-graders will move from the Upper Elementary School into the Junior High School Campus in the 2020-2021 school year.

“I believe it’s time for us to go ahead and look at making that a true secondary campus, a sixth through 12 campus, and a single campus with a single principal,” said Fletcher. “That eliminates some of the redundancies we have in place right now that are nice, but they are also inefficient.”

Fletcher said the school district will post an opening for a high school assistant principal in the near future. This person will start at the beginning of the next school year. Escanaba currently has a high school and junior high school principal position, with an assistant high school principal. The new organizational plan is to have one secondary principal over the junior and senior high schools assisted by two assistant principals, one over the junior high school, and the other over the senior high school.

“We’ll also have Kim Pepin continue his work in his capacity as well …,” said Fletcher.

The configuration will allow the administration to help students better. In addition, there will be another guidance counselor added and two assistant principals will be paired up with two guidance councilors.

“As a high school and junior high, we talk a lot about all of the things we have to offer, but because people are so stretched, not every student is made as aware as they could be of all the things that are out there for them,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher said the names of the people filling the positions will be included on the organizational plan he will submit to the board later in the school year.

In other business the board:

– Approved a Professional Development Advisory Committee including Rhonda Sanville (elementary reading), Kasia Ives (elementary special education), Jessica Garber (high school special education), Margie Schafer (kindergarten), Gina Pepin (elementary reading), Traci Pinar (junior high science), Krista Johnson (kindergarten principal), Paulette Wickham (elementary principal), Fletcher, and Kevin Pascoe (director of business services).

“A broad range of perspectives and grade levels and teaching areas. These folks will be responsible for helping us plan out and approve a certain portion of our professional development,” Fletcher.

The state requires school districts to have a committee that approves at least eight hours of professional development toward instructional hours offered through the school year. The committee must be made up of teachers, administrators, and at least one non-instructional member.

– Received an update by Fletcher on the sale of the Soo Hill school building. The Soo Hill building appraisal will be complete in approximately 10 days. The Intermediate School District is waiting to find out the results of a building inspection. Once both reports are complete, the board will discuss how to make an agreement or contract with the ISD to sell the building.

“The board has to approve any sale of real estate … we’re not required to bid out real estate … I think as long as we settle on a price that both parties consider to be fair, it’s in our interest and their interest that we sell that building to the ISD,” said Fletcher.

– Heard from Escanaba High School Principal Darci Griebel, who reported there were approximately 14 new students enrolled in the second semester at the high school — six in the junior high and approximately eight in the senior high.

“You always have somewhat of an exchange,” said Griebel. “There’s some for us too, that move on to other locations.”

– Recognized Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

– Hired Sandra Sturday, student support specialist at the Escanaba Student Success Center, and Samantha Henderson, seventh grade volleyball coach.

– Observed presentations from Lemmer Elementary and the ISD.

The next board meeting will be Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. in the courtyard room of the Upper Elementary building..