Grant Park assistant principal Kelly Toppen will be the next principal at Beecher Elementary School.
She was unanimously approved at the April 15 Beecher 200U school board meeting. She will replace Nicole Black, who held the position since 2016.
Toppen will start in Beecher in July.
“I am grateful,” she told the board. “It’s a dream of mine to help the teachers in Beecher.
“I’m so looking forward to next year and the years ahead.”
Toppen has also served as the student council advisor, special education coordinator and band director at Grant Park.
Sign decision tabled
The board tabled a decision on purchasing a new digital sign for the middle school to replace the current sign, which has not been working for at least five years, according to officials.
The district’s foundation would pay for $10,000 of the sign, which would leave the district on the hook for just $6,000 or $8,000 depending on the size of the sign that is chosen.
Officials said that it would be full color and capable of displaying pictures of students recognized for accomplishments.
The quality of the display will be similar to a sign at Beecher’s Village Hall.
Some board members wondered aloud if a sign is needed given that most information can be gathered on social media. Middle school principal Michelle Kwasny expressed concerns about the time it would take to program and update the sign.
The board decided to table the decision to a future meeting.
CLEAR-ing the way
Superintendent Jack Gaham said that the CLEAR Residency program will be run again soon and those below the 85 percent threshold will receive a letter that they are not cleared and required to prove residency.
CLEAR is a program tasked with weeding out those students attending school who are not living within district boundaries.
He added that those who registered in the past year will have to register again.
“We apologize for any inconvenience that it provides,” Gaham said. “But it’s been beneficial to longstanding families that have been cleared.”
Personnel file
The board approved Justin Bronson as the junior high sixth-grade math teacher.
It also recognized tenured staff members Lindsey Berger, Julia Galgan, Martin Gianotti and Lynette Naylor.
The board approved the renewal of all non-tenured staff and non-certified staff.