Your guide to the school board candidates

By Lonnie Huhman

The board of education vote on Nov. 3 for Northville Public Schools is another important one, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on everything from local opinions to how the district will move forward for the rest of the school year and beyond.

The election is important as it will bring new leaders to the school board as three incumbents have chosen not to seek another term. There are four total seats up for grabs on the ballot.

Of the incumbents, Matt Wilk, Cyndi Jankowski and Laurie Doner are not running while incumbent Sarah Prescott is. The pool of candidates grew to 10 in the aftermath of controversial remarks and social media posts made by Wilk in relation to the pandemic.

The candidates vying for the four seats, including Prescott, are Kimberly Campbell-Voytal, Jonathan Edison, Harihar T. Kulkarni, Blake Mathie, former board president James Mazurek, Lisa Peterson McIntyre, Lindsey Wilson, and Sherrie Winfield. Douglas Miller, who initially was seeking a spot on the board and whose name appears on the ballot, said he has decided not to pursue a seat on the board.

We contacted each of the other nine candidates, asking them a few questions that we feel will be pertinent to voters. Here are their responses:

Kimberly Campbell-Voytal

We raised two NHS graduates, and are the grandparents of a child at Old Village who will start kindergarten in fall 2021.

I am professor of family medicine and public health sciences at Wayne State University where I directed graduate and undergraduate programs in public health. My public health practice is in disease prevention and I have applied this expertise in the areas of policy, programs, and primary care. I retired this February after 20 years at Wayne State. I am a teacher with three decades of experience in the classroom and as an educational leader. Finally, I am clinical nurse specialist working in school health with a focus on kids with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and obesity.

We are in an unprecedented moment for public education. We are redefining our vision for safe, quality education while confronting continued decline in school funding. I am concerned with the extraordinary pressure on teachers’ and childrens’ health. Teachers and parents have shared with me their hope that we will come together to reduce the factors that divide us.

As a long-time resident of Northville, I strongly believe that we share an obligation to contribute to community. I have public health expertise that will strengthen skillful analysis of public health evidence to inform board decisions. My educational leadership and previous board experience prepares me as a prudent manager of district funds. My work in school health leaves no doubt in my mind the stakes involved for kids and families as we return to school.

I am impressed with the work of more than 130 parents, teachers, administrators and students to develop balanced options for returning to school. Families will ultimately choose the option that best meets their needs. It is up to all of us to follow the rules and keep community levels of virus low so our kids can go to school.

Jonathan Edison Age: 46

Jonathan, Jr. (8th grader) and Ava (6th grader)

Motivational speaker; author; success strategist. Founder and Chairman of I’m Rocking These Socks non-profit for the homeless. I’m a volunteer coach for the Northville Stallions.

In 1993, I graduated with an associate’s degree as a part of the Urban Teacher Program from Wayne County Community College. In 1995, Jonathan continued his education at Wayne State University, earning a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in teaching and educational leadership. After teaching for four years, at age 27 I became the youngest assistant principal in the history of Detroit Public Schools. In 2004 I launched my motivational and training development company. Since then, I have authored 10 books and have designed a leading total school transformation curriculum for school districts all over the country. My clients include: Alabama State Department of Education, CVS, Daimler Chrysler, FBI, Idaho State Department of Education, State Farm Insurance, Wyoming State Department of Education.

I believe that my diverse background, education, business experience and firsthand knowledge of working within schools will be an asset to the Board and the students of Northville. I am running because I was challenged by my 11-year-old daughter to “practice what I preach.” I’ve taught her that if there is something out in the world that makes you uncomfortable and you do nothing about it, then it’s your fault. Quite frankly, the former President of the Board made me

very uncomfortable with his remarks and I was compelled to do something about it.

Given the challenging times that we are in, I 100% agree with the plan. It provides parents and students options that are focused on the well-being, health and safety of our community.

Harihar T. Kulkarni Age: 76

Two grandchildren in elementary school

Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, University of Knoxville, Tennessee; M.S. in aeronautics, Indian Institute of Science, India; technical manager at Ford Motor Company for 44 years in research, product development, and manufacturing divisions. I developed new technologies and implemented them in global plants while managing resources and improved simultaneously, both overall cost in millions of dollars and quality of the product. I’m the recipient of two Henry Ford technology awards and two USA patents.

1. Use my educational engineering and interpersonal skills in Northville Schools for the benefit of students and community. 2. Elevate Northville’s current ranking among Michigan’s school systems, which will enhance available resources, community standard and motivate students to develop their future successful careers. 3. Institute hands-on technical programs – robotic games, digital innovations, etc. as part of curriculum. 4. Prioritize available resources to ingrain students with new challenging academic programs. 5. Alleviate community’s tension concerns of hitting breakpoint between meeting student’s safety, educational and social needs, and paying for them while sustain economic impact in COVID-19 environment. 6. Set up on-line guidance software programs to educate them about various professional requirements, to select proper curriculum at high school level and to discuss their concerns with counselors.

I do agree with recommended Schoology approach developed by school board members, with input from teachers and parents, to reopen Northville Schools. Specifically, Option 1 and Option 2 selected for elementary, middle and high School, respectively, are good. I commend painstaking efforts of school board members to develop this reopening plan. As mentioned, this plan is a living document and will be updated for individual school building, based on the state and local health expert’s guidance and number of COVID cases.

Blake A. Mathie Age: 48

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I joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves in 1990 where I became a network communications technician. Following my Marine experience, I pursued a career in telecommunications helping to build the infrastructure we rely on for many of the broadband services we use today. In 2004, I enrolled at Wayne State University where I received a bachelor’s degree in biomedical physics, followed by a master’s degree in biomedical engineering. In 2014, I co-founded Talem Technologies where I continue to invent assistive exoskeleton technology to improve the lives of people suffering from disease or injuries. I am currently a Ph.D. candidate at WSU working on my dissertation in biomedical engineering.

I recently became aware that our schoolboard is being influenced by leadership, charged with making the best choices for our children and community, who are rigidly entrenching themselves in political ideology and making critical decisions in the absence of hard science and facts. Such closed mindedness and partisan politics have put our status as a national leading school system in jeopardy and the safety of our community at risk. If we as a community expect our children to become the leaders of tomorrow, we have no choice but to lead the way for them today. This is why I am running for the Northville Board of Education.

I believe that the committees involved in developing the plan did excellent work. I also believe that their directive from leadership was fundamentally flawed. They were charged with providing the safest environment possible in the context of maximizing educational opportunities. In my opinion, this was precisely backwards. We should have been maximizing educational opportunities in the context of providing the safest environment possible. Academic accomplishment doesn’t matter if we lose students, staff, and teachers to COVID.

James Mazurek

A daughter at Northville High School

Bachelor’s in engineering, University of Michigan; Master’s in engineering, U of M Rackham Graduate School; MBA, Michigan State University Executive Management Program; currently VP Sales and Business Development for Neusoft America; previously held various management positions at Ford Motor Co (18 years) and Visteon (10 Years); served 6 years on the Beckenham Homeowners Association Board; 8 years previous experience on Northville Board of Education (2010-2018)

I’ve been an active parent, volunteering for my kids’ school and extra-curricular activities. I know our district from the time spent at Thornton Creek, Hillside, Northville High School as well as Kids Club programs at TC, Ridgewood, and Meads Mill. As a former Board member I worked through the district’s tough times when we were at risk of insolvency in 2010 and participated in making the difficult decisions to help us become one of the strongest districts in the state from both an academic and financial perspective. I believe we are now facing

another set of significant challenges.

We need to provide our families and staff a safe school environment, and deliver the same level of educational excellence we have achieved in the past (to both Hybrid and Virtual students). We need to keep academic achievement for all students as our #1 priority.

I believe that every family’s situation is unique and only they can determine what is best for their children. Given that, I do think having both Virtual (online) as well as a hybrid (in school) options are appropriate. I do have some concerns.

Full online learning while providing protection is not suited for all kids. It requires solid discipline and ability to focus on a computer screen for long hours. Honestly not an easy task whether young or old. I believe a little over 30% of families chose this option, I am hoping we all understand the level of effort required of kids and teachers to make this successful.

The skills to teach full online and even hybrid are different from traditional in class learning. We need to put significant effort into providing training, tools, and assistance to help each of our teachers achieve a high level of proficiency in this type of educational approach. We also need to do a much better job of explaining what the expectations are of students as well.

Lisa Peterson McIntyre Age: 49

Three children in the district have attended Ridge Wood, Amerman, Hillside and Northville High School.

A licensed clinical counselor, my mental health and education background provides an important perspective for continued health and well-being. I have developed and implemented wellness programs for youth and educators focused on successful outcomes. Through my non-profit experience, I understand the impact of funding on the ability to maintain high quality programming. Within the community, I am engaged as a member of the RidgeWood PTA Board since 2017 and am actively involved as a parent volunteer in the local gymnastics community.

Our connected community of students, parents, educators and administrators faces difficult challenges. I believe the board must oversee and encourage collaboration between these groups to ensure that our diverse student population has access to the most complete and competitive academic opportunities. I want to be part of the board to help ensure we do exactly that in the safest, smartest and most equitable ways possible.

It is critical the board deliver creative solutions to address issues that interfere with learning, especially during a pandemic. I want all students to succeed; I want all parents to be proud of their children and the Northville Schools; I want the best teachers; and I want the best leaders.

Resilience as a school district requires comprehensive, flexible plans for a successful return to education during the pandemic, implementing stringent safety measures and equitable access to educational material for all learners. The models chosen and offered by semester, while not perfect, offer great flexibility. Improved communication about meeting students’ unique needs in tiered re-entry is essential. The slow start offers a realistic chance to integrate the newly adopted education management system at one time for all students, families and educators, under the safest possible conditions, to be prepared for changes that impact school closures in our region of Michigan.

Sarah Prescott Age: 42

Three (ages 6, 9 and 10)

I am a Harvardtrained lawyer and recognized expert in employment law and civil rights. We founded our law firm in Northville, on Main Street, so I am vested in this community as a parent, and a home and business owner. I have served on the Board of Education since 2015; I have also been the president of Michigan’s Employment Lawyers Association; I sat on the State Bar Ethics Board, and since 2013, Michigan’s Advisory Board to the US Civil Rights Commission. These positions amount to more than 15 years of public service.

Personnel costs reflect more than 70% of our district operating budget. I have seen other districts make costly mistakes in personnel management, so they not only harm stakeholders, but they waste money on defending lawsuits. I looked at what they were doing wrong and thought, “Not in my district.” I serve to help make sure we treat our people legally and avoid wasting time and money. My kids will be in the district more than a decade, and I want every dollar we have to be invested wisely.

After extensive public hearings and reading hundreds of letters, and after considering all the scientific information I could put my hands on, my vote was: yes on the Middle School plan because it allowed 100% in person teaching on all core content areas while honoring CDC recommendations for distancing. I voted yes at Cooke because it was the only feasible plan presented. I voted no at the elementary and high school levels. I felt we could do more for safety at K-5 and more live teaching and/or face-to-face instruction at the high school.

I believe it’s really important that our Board honors the decisions we make, once they are voted in. To me, the goal once you “lose” on any given vote (as I sometimes do) is to pivot to asking, “OK, how can I make this the best it can be?” rather than “Ok, now how can I get my way?” Our community needs all oars rowing in the same direction, even when we disagree. In this way, I honor Board decisions, even if I do not agree with them.

Lindsey Wilson Age: 50

My wife Julie and I have three kids in Northville Schools.

I am a scientist at heart and a lawyer by trade. I have a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the Michigan State University College of Law. I am a lawyer for a Fortune 500 corporation. I have also been an attorney with two major law firms based in Silicon Valley and in the Midwest. I have served as a Board Member and Secretary of the Amerman Dad’s Club and was a head coach and assistant coach for more than five years with the Northville Baseball-Softball Association.

Our school district is our crown jewel — it has given so much to me and my family, and now is the time to give back to it. We are facing enormous challenges, and I would like to join the board in navigating through both the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising tide of student well-being and health-related issues, which I believe will only be exacerbated by this crisis. We can get through this together as a community, with common sense and levelheadedness — putting the safety of students, teachers, and families first, without politicizing the issues and without losing critical focus on student health, happiness and inclusion.

I respect the district’s hard work, dedication and deliberations, and I respect its decision and planning. The district’s plan is in line with the various approaches other jurisdictions have taken to school reentry and there is no time now for additional distractions. Our kids’ time is now, so let’s focus on making the school year a great and safe experience for the students, teachers, staff.

While the district’s plan could not make every stakeholder happy, it provides families with choices and is a workable balance and a solid path forward through this crisis together, given the edicts from our Why Are you running? governor. From my perspective, the decision I possess essential and relevant skills that and plan has been made. In the spirit of qualify to be a strong advocate for all our togetherness and our collective desire to do children. I represent a story, a voice and a the best for our kids, I believe we should turn demographic that is presently missing from now to focusing on making the return to the board. I intend to focus on engaged, school, and the entire school year, a great one. transparent and accountable leadership Sherrie Winfield children. My platform has three main points. Age: 51 W for Wellness: Promoting Mental Health kids in the district: Awareness and Resources to address the A sophomore (Victoria) at NHS and one increasing pressure students are facing graduate (Rachel) today. I for Inclusion: Fostering a climate from NHS in 2018 where each child feels safe, valued, and Profession/ respected. And N for Nurture: Ensuring that QuAlificAtions: each child feels safe and protected while B.S. in management learning during the pandemic and beyond. (1990) and MBA do you Agree With the (1992), Tulane district’s covid PlAn? University. I’ve Yes, I think the district has been thoughtful worked at Ford Motor Company as a and intentional in providing a comprehensive Senior Human Resources Manager for 28 plan that offers options while striving to years. I’ve developed and honed skills that are maintain academic standards and keeping transferrable to the board of education. My safety as a priority for our children. more relevant skills include: • Developing

Corporate

COVID-19

Health and

Safety Protocols. • Creating and delivering educational curriculum • Developing and facilitating

Diversity,

Inclusion and

Anti-harassment policy and instruction • Leading labor contract negotiations DEMO CLEANUP • RESIDENTIAL CLEANUP • Managingmulti- LABOR HIRE • YARD WASTE million-dollar budgets COMMERCIAL CLEANUP • JUNK REMOVAL • Certified in LICENSED & INSURED • NORTHVILLE RESIDENT

Organization

Development

delivering real results for all of our and Change Management Auston Zayti Owner/Operator

By Michele Fecht

Despite a two-month construction shut down due to COVID-19, the addition to Hillside Middle School is expected to be ready for students and staff in late fall.

Work on the $35 million project, a significant part of the $104 million bond issue approved by voters in 2017, has picked up since late spring, said Steve Banchero, the district’s director of operations. Interior work has been ongoing with placement of new furniture under way starting October 12.

The most imposing part of the project are the three grade-level, two-story academic core additions on the west side the current building. A new entrance will be on the north side with the office on the axis to the Eight Mile bridge. A new parking lot will be located on the footprint of the current structure.

Banchero said any demolition will not take place until students are out of the building in June.

Other forthcoming changes include a second-level media center with views to the north, outdoor learning studios, dining space in the commons area. The existing gyms will remain.

Despite the COVID construction delays, students and staff returning to in-person learning found upgrades in several district schools including:

• New office and secured entry vestibule completed. • A flexible music space created along with the reconfiguration of the Art,

Project Lead the Way and Choir classrooms. • New windows in all classroom and new student furniture.

• Renovated office areas with a secure entry vestibule • Renovated media centers with an addition of a makerspace. • New mechanical systems and lighting upgrades in all classrooms

New pavement in the parking lot. Paid through the Sinking Bond Project.

Currently in the design phase are

Silver Springs Elementary, Winchester

Elementary, Ridge Wood Elementary and

Cooke School.