Wines Elementary School parent Christine Stead was named to the Ann Arbor Board of Education Wednesday night. The Huron View Boulevard resident was selected from a field of eight candidates considered to fill the vacancy left when Adam Hollier resigned his board seat last month.
Candidates were interviewed on March 8 and had an opportunity to address the board Wednesday night before the appointment was made.
A business consultant in the health care industry, Stead has worked on school millage campaigns in 2008 and 2009 and also served to help develop the district’s Strategic Plan. In applying for the post, she said achieving excellence, engaging the business community and working to make the district more competitive were some of the reasons she wanted to serve on the board.
In addition to Stead, candidates included: Susan Collet of Georgetown Boulevard, James Corey of Gabrielle Avenue, Victoria Haviland of Greenview Drive, Margy Long of Martha Avenue, Jack Panitch of Burson Place, Jeff Sabatini of Jackson Avenue and Andy Thomas of W. Stadium Boulevard.
This is the second board appointment in recent months. Simone Lightfoot was named in December to replace Helen Gates-Bryant, who resigned in November.
Stead and Lightfoot will serve on the board through Dec. 31, 2010 due to changes made in the district’s election schedule.
In December, the board voted to move traditional school elections from May to November in a money-saving move. Voters will next go to the polls to elect board members in November 2010, when seats held by Lightfoot, Stead, Susan Baskett and Deb Mexicotte will be open. The deadline for filing for one of the board seats is Aug. 10, 2010.
