The Huron Valley Schools Board of Education recently elected new officers to one-year terms that began Monday, June 21. In a unanimous vote, Sean Carlson was elected as the board’s president, while Denise Forrest, Denise Pistana and Lindsay Cotter were elected vice president, treasurer and secretary, respectively.

In accepting the board presidency, Mr. Carlson congratulated outgoing president Tom Wiseman for his leadership of the board over the past two years and thanked board members for their confidence in him.

Effective Monday, July 12, all Board of Education meetings will begin at 6 p.m. A full schedule of 2021-22  Board meetings can be found on our website. 

In setting direction for the board over the next year, Mr. Carlson made a number of changes to the group’s committee structure and added opportunities for community members to interact with the board of education. In summary, Mr. Carlson:

• Created an ad hoc Community Outreach Committee that will be made up of board members, parents and other key stakeholders in order to address the social-emotional needs of students and staff, evaluate strategies to enhance student learning post pandemic and provide insights into innovations for the classroom. Applications for parents and community members interested in joining this Committee will be made available beginning July 19.
• Created an ad hoc Arts, Activities, & Athletics Committee designed to review our co-curricular programming and to ensure that programs like - music, sports, theater, art, DECA - where young people have an opportunity to learn lifelong lessons is hitting the mark and in fact complementing our academic lessons from the classroom. About the Arts, Activities and Athletics Committee Mr. Carlson stated: “Coming out of this pandemic we need to double our efforts to ensure that our HVS students are engaged and have a sense of belonging. The social and emotional well-being of HVS students is a top concern of the Board of Education and co-curricular programming will play a critical role in helping our students get connected.”
• Outlined a plan for a series of community connection forums intended to provide parents and community members an opportunity to discuss key issues with individual board members in a forum that allows two-way communication. The community connection forums will begin in August.

“Huron Valley Schools supports 8,800 students, 1,500 staff members and thousands of families,” Mr. Carlson said. “It’s our role as a board to represent these multiple voices and make the best decisions possible for the benefit of our students. We are deeply committed to open communication in an effort to build trust through transparency. I believe our new committees and community forums support this philosophy.”