Budgets are tight. There’s talk of upping the number of students per class. Teachers are looking for a contract. There’s talk of millions of dollars of deficit spending. Welcome to the reality members of the Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education will deal with in the very near future ? a future that begins next Tuesday, May 3.
That is the day voters in the Lake Orion schools district go to the polls and decide who will fill five of seven school board seats. Voters will have plenty of folks to chose from, too. There are 13 people vying for four, 4-year terms; and two trying to fill a partial term that will expire on June 30, 2013.
First, who is not running from the current board of education . . . board president Mary Jo Burchart and treasurer Jim Weidman.
Running for the four, 4-year terms are incumbents Kelly Weaver and Janet Wolverton (board vice president). Both recently voted not to accept a one-year contract with the Lake Orion Education Association ? the local teacher union. Also running for school board, but not currently on the board are Mark Brackon, Terrie Campbell, Joseph Knight, Terry Lang, Birgit McQuiston, Connie Meech, John Michalik, Melissa Miller, Dan Myslakowski, and Deborah Porter.
Weaver lives on Waldon Park Drive, was appointed to the board last May. She has two children, is current president of the Lake Orion Optimist Club and serves as a trustee on the Lake Orion Education Foundation.
Wolverton lives on Roxbury Court and has served two terms. She has two children and currently is the business manager for her husband’s consulting firm.
Brackon lives on Troon Court and has lived in the district for 20 years. He has two children and one grandchild attending schools in the district. He currently teaches for Central Michigan University and is retired from Chrysler Corp, where he was a financial executive.
Campbell lives on Morgan Road and prior to her current job, worked 13 year in the district in the transportation department. She has two children.
Knight lives on E. Flint Street. He and his family have lived in the community for 16 years. He has five children. He has been a manger in manufacturing for 27 years.
Lang lives on Miller Road and is a 1984 LOHS grad, having four children. He is currently a Quality and Process Analyst for Edcor Data Services.
McQuiston lives on N. Broadway Street. She has lived in the district for 10 years and has two children. She is a Registered Nurse and Certified Nutritionist.
Meech lives on Key West, she has lived in the district for 11 years and has four children. She practices law part-time while raising her family.
Michalik lives on Tall Oaks and has three children. He manages for a ‘small? microelectronics company.
Miller lives on Clint Court and has lived in Lake Orion for 18 years. She has three children. She has 20 years experience as a performance consultant and business management.
Myslakowski lives on Browning Drive and has lived in the community for 23 years, raising two children in the district. Has a Masters degree in Public Administration and 25 years experience in finance and management.
Porter lives on Key West and is a graduate of LOHS as well as her two children. She has developed and implemented technologies for companies and managed a $500 million IT portfolio.
Running for the partial term are incumbents Steven Drakos and Bob Gritzinger ? the later as a write-in candidate.
Drakos, a LOHS graduate, lives on Franklin Wright Blvd. He has two children. He is a local attorney. He was appointed to the board of education last September.
Gritzinger, is also a LOHS graduate with two children. He has served three full terms on the on the board and is managing editor of the Detroit-based AutoWeek magazine.