Middle School principal Kevin Akin named to interim post By Ken De Laat If Friday’s Special Meeting of the Grant School Board is any indication, the rift that has divided the town shows no sign of abetting anytime soon. The set of an upcoming play at the Fine Arts Center provided an eerie backdrop to the ongoing tension both within the board and between the board and a significant part of the community they serve. There are already recall elections coming in May when current Board Members Rachel Gort and Richard Vance will face opposition from Lindsay Mahlich and Mindy Conley. The meeting was called earlier in the week with the agenda to include accepting the resignation and release agreement of outgoing superintendent Brett Zuver and the appointment of an interim superintendent. The friction became apparent early as Board Member Rob Schuitema challenged the agenda with a motion to remove the appointment of the interim supe and replace it with engaging NC RESA, MASB, or MLI to find an interim. His motion received no support and the board voted to go into closed session. Upon return a motion was made and supported to accept the resignation and the release agreement. During discussion Schuitema related his displeasure with the action. “I just want to say that Brett Zuver is a good man, he was a good superintendent and I believe he has been unjustly treated and I feel the resignation was forced on him.” No further discussion was offered and the vote was 6-1 with Schuitema the lone dissenting vote. The next action was a motion and support to name Grant Middle School Principal Kevin Akin to the interim post. Again Schuitema challenged the move stating he had not been given time to digest the information having just heard about it. His motion to wait until there was an opportunity for the full board to interview Akin was not supported and the vote to install him as interim went 6-1 in favor with Schuitema, again, the lone dissenting vote Following some other business matters the meeting went to public comment Kelly Brown began by leveling criticism toward Superintendent Zuver white praising the recent efforts of the board. Following her were seventeen others who approached the podium to deliver comments. There was further support for the board’s actions from a couple of other sources but primarily speakers questioned the timing of announcing the meeting, the possibility of a conflict of interest with Interim Supe Akin’s involvement in Special Ed and the circumstances leading to Zuver’s departure. Most of the comments dealt more with concern over how the board operated in making these decisions rather than the outcome, though there were parents and students who expressed sadness and anger at the loss of Zuver. Tracy Hargreaves had praise for Akin but also questioned the Board’s decision making process. Megan Wirts admonished the Board for pushing out the former supe and called for the board to resign as did a couple of other commenters. Following comment and during board discussion Schuitema stated that the board has targeted people who have questioned them and spoke of the pressure that had been put on Zuver pointing to “the constant stress and strain and pressure from a board that is over- micromanaging and overreaching their authority.”
Schuitema reiterated his issues with not hearing about the meeting in a timely fashion as well as the move to install the interim. “I didn’t know about Kevin (Akin) until I got here tonight. And that has been standard operating procedure of this board. Yes, I have challenged this board and I have challenged our legal counsel and I’ve been stonewalled every single time.I have concerns about the well being of our students and staff. “I feel like every time I turn around we're like one step removed from a major lawsuit on top of what we have because this board seems to go rogue and once again, as it says on our nameplates, ‘it’s all about the kids’. But tell me, what has transpired in the last year and a half that put the kids' well-being first and foremost and personal agendas aside?” After applause and a few random supportive comments from the crowd Schuitema related he had had enough for one night and packed up and left the meeting, stating when asked that he would be back in February. Board President Thorne then commented on 2 items addressed in public comment. He stated the reason for the late notice of the meeting had to do with securing an appropriate location which did not occur until Wednesday. He also addressed the question of who would replace Akin as Middle School principal. “That decision will be Mr. Akin’s to make.” An official letter from the Board regarding the resignation of Superintendent Zuver will be available to the community on Monday. It is to be posted on the school’s website as well as the school’s social media sites. The next scheduled board meeting will be February 12th at 6pm.
3 Comments
Amy Nelsen
1/27/2024 11:25:06 pm
Board President Thorne also explained after public comment period that the board received and reviewed an investigation report during closed session, facts upon which the board then voted 6-1 in open session to accept the superintendent's resignation.
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Jill Kuebler
1/28/2024 09:51:22 am
After comments from the audience Ken Thorne stated that they did not make a decision about Kevin Akin until that night. Shortly after, he read the letter to the audience that will go out to families and this letter stated that Kevin Akin would be interim. He was immediately questioned by someone in the audience asking him when that letter was composed because obviously he had not had time to write it after the vote. He stated that it was written prior and with the help of Zuver. So here we go again. No transparency, lies and not working together with all board members. They went into the meeting with a plan to put up Kevin Akin and knew it would go through, so no need to involve all of the board members. Then they lie about it and act like it just came up tonight. Then insert foot in mouth. This board has an agenda and it does not involve what is in the best interest for the all of the community and all of our kids. If that’s not true then why the secret meetings and agendas and lack of communication with all board members?
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Audrey Looman
1/28/2024 11:17:46 am
Secret meetings, lack of transparency..Sadly this continues to be an issue
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