Gladstone school board appoints Pfeiffer
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GLADSTONE — At its most recent monthly meeting, the Board of Education for Gladstone Area Schools appointed Mackenzie Pfeiffer to its ranks. She is a professional counselor and brings past experience from cities and small towns.
There were several candidates for the board member role, which opened up when Phil DeMay resigned recently. Four applicants came in person to Monday evening’s school board meeting; a fifth was unable to attend.
Superintendent Jay Kulbertis opened the discussion by explaining that the process of interviewing and appointing new members to complete partial terms — as opposed to by public election after a term’s expiration — can seem strange and fast. It was designed by the state, and Kulbertis apologized to the candidates for the clunkiness.
Each applicant had a chance to introduce themselves and was asked to provide a little information on how they could prove an asset to the school board.
Pfeiffer, who has lived in Gladstone for three years, grew up in St. Ignace and southern Missouri and lived a number of places.
“Seeing the wide variety and richness in different school cultures, that excites me,” Pfeiffer said. “I am a professional counselor, so I have seen different effects over the decades … of kids’ anxiety, depression, how social media impacts them, how their social interactions have changed so much over the years.”
She previously served on a housing commission and had been a Boy Scout leader.
“I have two grown sons, one with a child of his own and one that’s in the military,” Pfeiffer shared. “So I’ve watched my kids take college paths and a military path, and I think there’s no one path for kids. They’re all different. So whether it be college, military, trade school, whatever — just having support for a school to support the kids and the teachers is important to me.”
The other candidates were a Local 7 sheet metal worker on the Upper Peninsula Construction Council, an engineer and baseball coach, and a magistrate who previously was a police officer. Oddly, all three of them wore short-sleeved blue polos to the meeting, which both Pfeiffer and the board joked about.
Board member Andrew Sturdy made the motion to appoint Pfeiffer. It was seconded by Jesse Seger and ultimately voted in. Two members were absent, Steve Tackman and Nathan Neumeier.
Kulbertis thanked all the applicants and encouraged the others to again throw their hats in the ring for a board position later on.
At the meeting, a number of staffing changes were approved ahead of the start of the 2026 to ’27 school year, and regular resolutions were adopted.
The Board of Education for Gladstone Area Schools approved:
– the hire of football coaches Dan Faust, Phil DeMay, Aaron Young and Jon Potes.
– the resignation of coaches Samantha Gibbons, Rebekka Bruce, Samantha DeCremer and Tyler Swanson.
– the resignation of aides and Teamster employees Jayddan Sivertson, Tami Ademan and Terry Aicher.
– the hire of Serena Maki as kindergarten teacher. Cameron Principal Katee Inghram said that Maki recently completed student teaching and has been with Gladstoen schools for four-and-a-half years as an aide.
– the hire of Teamster employees Brianna Beauchamp, Misti Giffin, Emily Augustyn, Mary Barnhart and Lisa Conger as aides and Clyde Lancour as busdriver.
– a district Professional Development Advisory Committee.
– the adoption of Schools of Choice Section 105 and 105c resolutions.