Berkley School District begins contract negotiations with new superintendent
Scott Francis
BERKLEY The Berkley School District’s Board of Education has selected its next superintendent.
At its May 10 meeting, the board discussed its final two candidates for superintendent: Berkley Schools District Director of Teaching, Learning and Technology Scott Francis and Detroit Public Schools Community District Assistant Superintendent Beth Gonzalez.
The current superintendent, Dennis McDavid, will be leaving his job after nine years when his contract expires at the end of June. The district reviewed 24 applicants before whittling them down to Francis and Gonzalez.
The board ultimately decided to select Francis, who is in his ninth year working in Berkley, with a 7-0 vote. Before taking on his current job, he was the principal at Pattengill Elementary School.
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They talk about their hope, their happiness, their worries, their confusion as mask restrictions loosen.
Bill Laitner, Minnah Arshad, Nushrat Rahman and Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press
Published
1:18 pm UTC May. 23, 2021
To mask or not to mask? That’s now the question, at least for Michiganders who’ve followed official guidelines.
This week might be the tipping point. It could be the moment when many of us decide to start going out in public without a mask, saying to heck with the virus. Then again, it might be when we stick to this simple precaution a square of cloth or paper that’s become a badge of courtesy, even civic-mindedness.
Gari Garaialde/Getty Images
Changes to state and federal guidance on mask-wearing sent a new dose of uncertainty through Michigan school communities in recent days, sparking thorny debates and confusion about who should wear masks at school and under what circumstances.
But little seems likely to change in classrooms across the state: Federal health authorities clarified over the weekend that schools should continue with their current safety precautions, which generally include mask requirements.
“For the most part, the mask requirement will remain the same for the year,” said Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, noting that the district was still reviewing state and federal guidance on the matter and will release more details this week. “There will be flexibility for vaccinated employees and students if everyone in the room is vaccinated or if they are outside.”