Students, Parents Renew Fiegel School Appeal

Deanna Willis of Canton arrived almost two hours before Tuesday's Board of Education meeting, worried about getting a good seat in the auditorium — which had chairs for about 400 people.

Willis had no problem with seating; she was in the front row and watched her two sons, Chase, 10, and Brayden, 7, read statements asking to keep their school, Fiegel Elementary, open. The school has been targeted to close as part of proposed cuts totaling $18 million.

"If you close Fiegel, it would hurt a lot of people because they would feel sad," Brayden said. "It is a great school with great teachers and a great principal. Please find another way to fix this."

Chase said the school "holds many of my favorite school memories ... think of all the kids that will have to be kicked out of Fiegel and sent to four other schools," he said. "Also, think of all the teachers that will go jobless."

Bob Pennock, a literacy intervention teacher at Fiegel for nine years, was among the adults who spoke in support of the school. He questioned why Fiegel was targeted without any public hearings, saying that before the news was made public, Boy Scouts who meet at the school were told they would have to find another place to meet.

But nothing was decided Tuesday on the the district's $162 million budget.

Instead, the school board approved the use of grant money, which could not be spent on anything else, to purchase books for a literacy program.

The seven members also resumed a pattern of disagreement over whether and when to evaluate the two men they supervise: Superintendent Craig Fiegel and Deputy Superintendent Ken Jacobs. Fiegel's contract was not extended, and Jacobs will retire at the end of the school year.

Just last week, the board agreed to seek an interim superintendent and work with the Michigan Assocaiton of School Boards to find a replacement for Fiegel.

Board member Barry Simescu said he was "very upset and troubled" to learn that an internal job announcement had been posted for interim superintendent. Board President John Jackson later apologized, saying he did not realize the full board needed to approve such an action, and he said he was willing to have the announcement modified.

Board member Steve Sneidemann challenged a plan to suspend reports for the next six weeks to allow time to focus on the budget and find an interim superintendent. He pressed for evaluations of Fiegel's and Jacobs' job performances — a bid Sneidemann lost when board members Judy Mardigian, Jackson, Dianne Gonzalez and Adrienne Davis said they did not think time should be spent on such administrative work while the district is facing pressing budget decisions.

Board member Nancy Eggenberger supported Sneidemann, saying that suspending the reports was akin to telling teachers that, during a busy spring season, they could skip teaching math.

About 100 people attended Tuesday's public meeting, which started at 7 p.m. and was supposed to last one hour. Instead, the meeting lasted until almost 10 p.m., after which the board adjourned to a closed session to discuss contracts.