By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


Roger Myers, a local attorney, was re-elected president of the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education at its annual organizational meeting Monday night.

Myers was the only person nominated, with the vote 4-2 to elect him to another 1-year term. Members Ken Stahl, Angela Krebs, Laura Mitchell and Myers himself voted in favor, while trustees John Conely and Bill Trombley voted no.

Ken Stahl, who was board secretary last year, will serve as vice president, replacing Alicia Reid, who was not in attendance at the meeting. Angela Krebs will serve as board secretary after the board voted 4-2 in her favor, with Trombley and Conely again voting no. This year’s board treasurer will be Laura Mitchell. She replaces Krebs, who served as board treasurer in 2021.

In other statutorily required business, the board set regular meeting dates for the second Monday in each month, with the fourth Monday reserved for workshop sessions. The first workshop of the year will be on Jan. 24th when the board will meet to discuss school security, delays in completing projects in the 2019 bond issue and strategic planning.

The board also voted to approve revisions in several NEOLA policies. The vote had originally been scheduled for the December 13th meeting, but due concerns on the part of some board members, the board decided to vote on the policy changes individually rather than collectively. NEOLA makes recommendations to local boards of education regarding the setting of educational policies in their district, based on changing mandates in federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

A couple of parents at the meeting also expressed concerns about NEOLA policies, saying the board should consider ending its contract with the company and go with another service, possibly even seeking bids. Trustee Trombley said he would like Brighton “to look into other (policy service) firms and bring it back for a vote.”

Although the majority of Michigan K-12 school districts use NEOLA for the service, Superintendent Matt Outlaw said that some Oakland districts have parted ways with NEOLA. He said that Brighton Area Schools Human Resources Director Chad Scaling could research other firms that provide the same service and report back to the board. However, Outlaw said that changing companies for the very specialized service would be a long process, taking months to complete.