Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


Meeting in special session Monday evening, the Brighton Board of Education appointed Chelsea Boyd to be the new principal at Spencer Elementary. She replaces Danielle Schmidt, who recently resigned as Spencer principal to become the principal at Voyager Elementary in Howell.

Board Trustee Andy Storm asked why the Spencer vacancy wasn’t posted and Supt. Matthew Outlaw responded that, given the fact that it’s late July with the new school year to start right after Labor Day, it was decided to use the substantial field of 29 candidates that had applied for the Hilton Elementary principalship, which was filled with the appointment of Erin Bellanger in June. Board President Roger Myers added that in his seven years on the board there had never been two vacancies for a leadership position in such a short span of time.

Outlaw said that both Bellanger and Boyd “were significantly above the other candidates” for the Hilton position, and when the Spencer position became vacant, it was felt that Boyd would be what Outlaw called an "exemplary" choice.

Storm also asked whether any “underrepresented candidates were screened” for the Spencer position, explaining that he meant African-American, Asian or other minority candidates. Outlaw said there “was a good balance of males and females,” but didn’t believe that any African-American candidates applied adding, again in his words, “most of the candidates we had appeared to be Caucasian.”

Outlaw said that had there been time, they would have gone through the full posting process, but, again quoting, “at the end of the day Chelsea Boyd is going to be your candidate, no matter what process you choose.”

Storm emphasized he was not casting doubt on the qualifications of Boyd but merely questioning the process. Boyd was ultimately approved for the position on a unanimous, 7-0 vote.

Boyd spent her first year in Brighton as a literacy coach for the entire district and this past year was the multi-tiered intervention coach and teacher assignment coordinator. She holds a Master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University in Educational Media and Technology and a Master’s in K-12 Education, also from EMU. Before coming to Brighton, Boyd was a special education teacher for nine years, and later a literacy consultant, in Genesee County.