CCISD To Seek Millage To Support CTE Program

The Copper Country Intermediate School District is considering seeking a millage to support its Career and Technical Education programs.

Superintendent George Stockero informed the board at their January meeting about this decision coming from the recently formed CTE Steering Committee.

That committee is made up of over 30 community members from a wide range of local industries and agencies.

The millage would help keep in place the current CTE offerings and expand offerings to Copper Country students.

Stockero said he will be meeting with all the local superintendents and expects to have an action plan ready for discussion at the next CCISD Board meeting in February.

Here is the press release from the CCISD:

The Copper Country Intermediate School District Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 17, 2017.

For the past ten months, Superintendent George Stockero has given the Board an update on Career and Technical Education (CTE).  At the January Board meeting Stockero informed the Board that he, along with CTE Director Shawn Kolbus, have met with and made presentations to over twenty local groups and individuals with regard to the status of the current CTE programs in the Copper Country.  A CTE Steering Committee was formed of interested parties who attended previous meetings, and the Committee met this past Monday night. There were over 30 community members in attendance, representing a wide array of industries and agencies, including logging, banking, education, engineering, manufacturing, township supervisors, city managers, health care and members of Michigan Works and the Western U.P. Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR).

The CTE Steering Committee believed that this is the right time to seek a CTE millage to help keep in place the current CTE offerings and to expand offerings to Copper Country students.  Bob Loukus, CCISD Board member, who also attended the CTE Steering Committee meeting, stated, “The fact that over 30 people from the south to the north have joined together to support the initiative to keep and further enhance CTE, demonstrates the community need for a strong CTE program in the Copper Country.”  Loukus recalled a statement by one of the CTE Steering Committee Members, “The students of the Copper Country are our future and we need to invest in their future.”

Stockero said he will be meeting with all the local superintendents this week and plans to have an action plan ready for discussion at the next CCISD Board meeting in February.

January is School Board recognition month.  Superintendent Stockero thanked the Board for their commitment to the education of the students in the Copper Country, noting many on the Board have given of their time for many, many years.  Stockero also noted that he was appreciative of the support that the Board has given him during his years as Superintendent, stating that the Board has taught him many things and helped him learn and grow.

In other action, the Board:

• Appointed Kirsten Pietila to the CCISD Parent Advisory Committee for Special Education, representing Adams Township School District
• Hired Janel Summers as a Special Education Instructional Coach for Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Special Education eligibilities.
• Approved the final adoption of proposed new, revised and replacement NEOLA policies.
• Approved the purchase of a 2018 77-passenger IC school bus with lift from Zaremba Equipment, Inc., of Gaylord, Michigan, through the state-wide bus bid.
• Discussed the format for the Superintendent’s evaluation.