During the Jan. 9, 2025 GPPSS School Board meeting, the board swore in the newly elected members: Tim Klepp, Clint Derringer, and Lisa Hull. The new board elected their board position with Trustee Worden voted Board president, Trustee Lisa Hull voted Vice President, Tim Klepp voted Treasurer and Trustee Valerie St. John voted Secretary.
“I am honored and excited to start this new chapter of the Grosse Pointe Public School System’s Board of Education, it is truly an honor to serve this district and to lead this board,” Worden said during closing remarks. “I have said it before and I will say it again, I love this district.”
At the start of the meeting Superintendent Dr. Andrea Tuttle announced that Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brandy Pavlik resigned over the holiday break. In a school district, the CFO is a vital role. They work on budget planning, risk management and insurance and financial reporting according to Dr. Tuttle’s presentation.
This resignation comes after multiple resignations from building and district administrators in the past year.
“We are running on a skeleton crew, and the crew that we have, albeit a great crew, have very little tenure and it’s a very challenging time for the Grosse Pointe Public School with our Central Office changing,” Dr. Tuttle said. “Losing CFO Pavilik is a tremendous loss to the district.”
To help the district, Dr. Tuttle recommended filling the position temporarily with Shebli Frayer, a career-long CFO for districts across Michigan, as a consultant. The CFO position has been posted on the GPPSS website.
During public comment, community members like Kevin Nuggent pushed the board to reconsider teacher compensation.
“We need to make sure we focus on fiscal prudence and teacher compensation, because maintaining our excellent staff of teachers and support staff while attracting new teachers and support staff is a priority that we should continue to work on community partnership,” Nuggent said.
As the new board moves forward, they will have to make decisions in the following months on the Trombly Elementary building that is currently sitting vacant. Since November, multiple community members have come to the podium during public comment voicing support and concerns over the possibility of Trombly reopening. During the Jan. 7 meeting, Dr. Chris Stanley said that he was developing a survey that will be sent out to residents in the Trombly area by consulting two survey firms.
During the Tuesday Jan.21 meeting, the board is expected to further the conversation on the elementary school.
“I look forward to working with all of the other board members. I really would like to set a tone of being something the community can be proud of so I would like to work with you as we go forward,” Trustee Klepp said.
