Rogers City and Posen school officials discuss closer ties

Amid a flurry of visits and schedule juggling, officials from Posen and Rogers City schools got together this week to hammer out a tentative agreement on joint cost cutting measures. The discussions were conducted in Rogers City on Monday and in Posen on Tuesday between the two boards and respective administrators. At the present time there is an agreement to continue exploring ways to share resources and personnel but it could soon lead to a shared superintendent and possibly other combined roles such as the business manager position.

THE DRIVING FACTORS are shrinking enrollments, dwindling state funds and skyrocketing expenses such as fuel and health insurance. Budget cuts in previous years already have forced the discontinuation of some programs and scaling back in other areas. The Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education conducted a special meeting Monday night to discuss cooperative programs with Posen Superintendent Dennis Stratton as well as other business before the board. Attending the meeting as observers were Posen board president Kenneth Wozniak, along with board members Connie Krajniak, and Andy Stone. Their intent was to lend their support to the concept of cooperating to save money and to prepare for the next round of discussions that took place the next day in Posen. Part of the strategy is to name an interim superintendent in Rogers City at the end of June, when current superintendent Ed Schultz will be leaving, to ensure a smooth transition and to act as a ?fallback? position in the event the shared superintendent concept does not work, for whatever reason.

THE BOARD conducted an interview with Paul Mancine at the last meeting. Mancine is from Harrisville and worked as an interim superintendent in Atlanta schools. He also was the consultant to Rogers City schools on a project to update NEOLA policies. On Monday the board interviewed current K-12 principal Deb Jones who indicated her willingness to step into the interim superin

tendent job. Following the board?s discussion of the candidates and ancillary issues affecting their decision, they approved a motion to enter into negotiations with Mancine for the position. Both board presidents, Mike Marx (Rogers City) and Ken Wozniak (Posen) indicated their willingness to take the process to the next step, which would be to arrange for a formal interview of Dennis Stratton in Rogers City by the executive committee. Pending the committee?s findings and recommendations, the two boards then would enter into negotiations on how the sharing of work could be structured legally and administratively.

THE TWO BOARDS already have agreed to retain the services of a public administration attorney to establish the guidelines on how to proceed from here. The rights and responsibilities of each party have to be spelled out clearly, taking into consideration rules of cooperation as well as adequate exit strategies for each party to exercise in the event that either side chooses to withdraw from the arrangement. The regular Posen Schools Board of Education meeting on Monday was postponed to Tuesday to allow Stratton to attend the Rogers City meeting along with members of the board.