WHITEHALL — There were two hot topics on Monday’s Whitehall school board meeting agenda, but there was some good news, too.
Shoreline Elementary School principal Beth Whaley, in her second year in the role, received the Nancy Colflesh Distinguished Alumni award from Michigan State University during the meeting. Colflesh herself and MSU professor Melissa Usiak presented the award, given annually to an MSU alum making a difference in the education field.
Whaley thanked Colflesh, who nominated her for the award, and said the only reason she’s been as successful as she has been is Colflesh believed in her at MSU even more than she believed in herself. She added that “Whitehall is the best district I’ve worked for” after having previously been at DeWitt and Cedar Springs. She went on to credit superintendent Jerry McDowell for seeing how important early childhood education is and saying he “always advocates for what’s right for kids.”
Whaley’s public support of McDowell came on the heels of several public comments early in the meeting that addressed the recent failure of the district’s $31.75 million millage request. Many members of the public have been at odds with the district over what they perceive as attempts to use millage requests to push through things the district wants along with what it needs.
Two public commenters explained their ‘no’ votes on the millage, with one saying McDowell was the source of her discontent with the district, while another referred to “a trust issue” between the public and the district, once again citing the lack of a second public comment period at board meetings. New city council member Tom Ziemer added that communities didn’t feel heard and that most of the money in the bond was not earmarked to the security needs that were presented as its main priority.
Conversely, several Whitehall school employees spoke in support of the bond and thanked the district for its efforts in promoting it. High school teacher Dave Goodrich disputed the idea that the finances of the bond were not honestly presented and added that the bond’s proposals were fair and addressed needs in the district.
The other hot topic of the evening was the approval of the new sex-ed curriculum by a 7-2 vote, with Tim Cross and Shannon McGoran dissenting. Much of the board discussion concerned specific aspects of the curriculum and whether they were appropriate for students to hear in a school setting. Those in support of the curriculum focused on the ability of parents to opt their children out of the sex-ed curriculum if they had reservations about the content presented. Trustee Melissa Moore conceded that some of the issues addressed in the curriculum are not easy to discuss, but noted not every child in the district goes home to a supportive environment where the topic can be openly discussed.
