Two Brighton(Michigan) (school) board seats up for grabs

Daily Press and Argus ^ | 2-5-03 | Christopher Nagy

[Dan from Michigan]

Two Brighton board seats up for grabs

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Wed, Feb 5, 2003
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BRIGHTON SCHOOLS

Residents in the Brighton school district looking to make the move from audience member to policy-maker have their annual opportunity to do so.

Candidate petitions for the June 9 election of the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education are now available at Superintendent Dave Pruneau's office.

Two seats -- currently occupied by board member Miles Vieau and board Vice President Bob Fuchs -- are up in June, but it's likely both board members will be seeking re-election.

"I plan on running É and I think Bob is running again," Vieau said.

Fuchs, who has been on the Brighton school board since 1995, could not be reached for comment, but Vieau said his own intentions to retain his seat on the board were solidified with the state's potential cuts in school aid looming on the horizon.

According to Pruneau, Brighton Area Schools could stand to lose roughly $340,000 in state aid this year; and with potential state budget cuts of up to 11 percent currently being discussed, Brighton could lose between $2 million and $3 million next year, he added.

The district has already begun to brace for the worst, Pruneau continued, by implementing a hiring freeze and delaying any capital outlays.

"When I found out about the financial situation of the district with the state cuts, I thought it was important that I stay on," Vieau said. "Everybody kind of looks to me to help with the cuts. I think we're going to have a rough year ahead, and I want to help get the district through it."

Vieau will be seeking his third term of office on the school board. He first ran for a seat in 1975. Vieau was the wrestling coach at Brighton High School at the time and his decision to run was prompted by dissatisfaction with the way bond funds were being spent.

"Back then, I think the eyes of the administration and the BEA (teacher's union) saw me as a rabble-rouser because I asked questions that weren't normally asked in public," he said.

He lost the election, but made a successful run for a board seat nearly two decades later in the early 1990s. After taking a leave of absence following his first term of office, he was again elected to the school board four years ago.

Each of the school board seats up for grabs in the June 9 school election are four-year terms of office. Candidate petitions must be returned to the superintendent's office by 4 p.m. April 7.

Candidates who file must be a registered voter of the Brighton school district and must obtain a minimum of 40 signatures from registered voters in the district; however, a candidate may elect to pay a $100 fee in lieu of filing a petition containing the signatures of registered voters.

Board members are paid $20 for each school board meeting. Attendance at committee assignments, which are divided among each board member, are unpaid.

AT A GLANCE

Candidate petitions for the Brighton Area Schools Board of Educaiton are now available at the district superintendent's office in the Brighton Education and Community Center building, 125 S. Church St., in Brighton.

Petitions are due at 4 p.m. April 7.

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[Dan from Michigan]

I'll mention why every school board is such an important race for the entire state, let alone a district such as Brighton.

Two reasons
1. School system policies.
2. Candidates for higher office can come from the school board ranks.

Unfortunatly, there will likely be a 5% turnout or less if it is a CONTESTED race. In a 62%+ GOP area, that is unacceptable.

Everyone complains about public school policies, this is our chance to have our say. I'm not attacking Vieau or Fuchs here(I THINK both are GOP BTW - I'll find out one way or another.). I don't enough(which is MY fault) on their voting records to make a decision on their support or not.

I encourage everyone to be active in their local school board races. If they are lib, look for the petitions and filing deadlines and go out and which their butts on election day. If you get your base out to vote, you win, since it'll be very unlikely that there will be more than 10% voting.

The libs know this too. That's why in a fairly conservative area, Clinton County(DeWitt), a Million Mom Marcher won there after losing BADLY(66-33) in a state rep race 5 months before. Turnout.

So let's remember the small races too, before they come back and bite us later.