Rochester Hills

Avondale school board elects new officers

By Mary Beth Almond
C & G Staff Writer

ROCHESTER HILLS — The Avondale Board of Education nominated and elected its officers for 2012 at its Jan. 9 meeting.

Sid Lockhart, who is entering his third year on the board, was elected board president for 2012. He previously served as vice president. A civil engineer for Oakland County, Lockhart initially decided to run for a seat on the board to bring his knowledge in government to the school board, he said.

“I thought I could bring my experiences that I’ve had with the county in construction and government to the Avondale district, and I wanted to give back to the community that I grew up in,” he said.

During his time on the board, he has been able to utilize the knowledge from his full-time job to capture some recovery zone bonds for the school district at 40 percent interest forgiveness, saving Avondale residents approximately $1.5 million on future interest payments, Lockhart said.

Nearly a lifelong resident of the Avondale Schools district, Lockhart has two children in the district. He and his wife graduated from Avondale High School in 1987 and currently live in Bloomfield Township.

The board elected Sean Johnson as its vice president, Stephen Sucher as secretary, and Scott Bittinger as treasurer.

Johnson, who is also entering his third year as a board member, is a six-year resident of the district. He, his wife and his two children — who attend schools in the district — live in Auburn Hills.

Johnson previously served as board treasurer, and said he was “completely ecstatic” to be elected vice president of the board this year.

“I was excited last year, as treasurer, especially with all of the financial challenges that we ran into, from the standpoint of the state, so that was a real opportunity to learn. I was always taught (that) when you want to learn a lot about an organization, follow the money, and that was definitely a deep dive into what it took to run Avondale. I learned a lot from that position, and I’m hoping to use that to empower me a little more in the vice presidency,” he said.

This year, the Avondale Board of Education will spend a lot of time dealing with the district’s roughly $1 million deficit, according to Johnson.

“We have a deficit elimination plan in the state where we have to be out of deficit by June of 2014, so we’re actively managing that deficit elimination plan to ensure that we can reach that goal,” he said.

Lockhart agreed that the board will be putting a lot of focus on the budget again this year.

“The biggest monkey on our back is to get out of deficit, so we’re trying to dig out of that, as well as keep student achievement high. We’ve been able to do that so far with the help of our teachers and staff,” he said.

The Legislature has really thrown a wrench in the gears of school funding across the state, according to Lockhart.

“The formula’s broken and it needs to be fixed. Avondale has been around since the 1800s and hasn’t had this kind of problem in funding, where we can’t fund the base fundamental dollars to operate the school without cutting key programs to the district that help the students become all-around citizens. I think some control needs to be given back to local funding, because the state doesn’t have all of the answers that they think they do,” he said.

Lockhart said the board also plans to maintain its high student performance and grow the Avondale Academy, the district’s alternative learning high school, this year.

In addition to the election of officers, January is School Board Recognition Month, as was noted by Avondale Superintendent George Heitsch, who thanked immediate past President Cyndi Pettit for her contributions, welcomed new board member Scott Bittinger, and expressed thanks for those continuing with the board in 2012.

“We are truly fortunate to have the support and wisdom of our dedicated board members,” Heitsch said in a statement. “The time and energy required to serve our students, especially in the current economic environment, is greater than many anticipated when becoming board members. Their stewardship is appreciated by all.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at malmond@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1060.