RC school board to consider a drop-dead date for shared superintendent decision

Members of the Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education will have a couple of resolutions to consider at their next regular meeting Monday at 6:30 p.m. The first involves an issue which has been discussed between Posen and Rogers City for several months, while the other involves a relatively new matter. Interim superintendents in Posen and Rogers City are looking at asking their respective school boards to establish a final date in January to either move toward a shared superintendent search or put the idea back on the back burner. Rogers City interim superintendent Paul Mancine said the board needs to make a commitment by January on the shared superintedent or they will need to begin the search for a full-time superintendent.

?I?M GOING to ask the board to pass a resolution to designate the January meeting as the drop dead date, to either commit or not commit,? said Mancine. ?We need to either go forward with the shared (concept) and start seeking that person, or we need to go forward in search of our own person.? The board is also expected to discuss Mancine?s interim superintendent contract and if he?ll be working for the district through the end of the school year. As of Tuesday, Mancine said the school board agenda for Monday was tentative and had not been finalized. Mancine also may ask the board to consider a dual enrollment resolution that would, in Mancine?s words ?recognize the value of? and ?endorse? the program.

Mancine didn?t anticipate Alpena Community College?s level of interest in the dual enrollment program and that they wanted to see how it would work in the second semester.

?BUT IT pleases me,? said Mancine. ?We were unable to anticipate the increased enrollment for kids. Those that qualify and are eligible, we pay the tuition. So, our tuition bill for our kids looks like it is going to be higher than anticipated. However, in the long run as we merge the concept of high school education into the college component at the Grambau Center, if

this thing works out, in the long term it will not only be effective in terms of providing quality programs for kids, it also will be cost effective in the long run.? ACC is looking at providing two classes in the morning and two in the evening beginning with the second semester. The classes will be conducted on the second floor of the Grambau Center. ?My message is that yes, we are going to receive a little bit more of dual enrollment tuition bill but, in the long run, if we do things right, it?ll give us long term savings. It also will give us all of the other things that the program should give us?? Mancine said.

Another issue that is expected to be on the agenda is notification of layoffs. This follows the board?s approval of the Phase I cost containment plan. Mancine said, ?There will be no more additions to that Phase I plan that need to be adopted.? Phase II public meetings could begin as early as January.