Saline MI
5-25-2021 9:09pm

Saline Board of Education Chooses Kandace Jones to Fill Vacancy

Kandace Jones is the newest member of the Saline Board of Education.

The board voted 6-0 to approve the motion, made by Secretary Susan Estep and seconded by Vice-President Michael McVey, to have Jones fill the vacancy left by Trustee Aramide Boatswain, who resigned to move to California. Jones' term expires Dec. 31, 2022.

Jones thanked the board and the community for their support.

"I just want to thank you all for your belief in me," Jones said during remarks after the vote. "Thank you to the community for speaking up and really standing up for DEI. That's a strong commitment to me, not just because I'm a black woman, but it's a life commitment for me for everyone to feel welcome, no matter where they go, to feel included."

The board interviewed Jones and 11 other candidates during a special meeting Monday. During the regular meeting Tuesday, all six trustees and student rep Noah Socha were asked to put forward their favored candidates. All six trustees and Socha named Jones. Kristin Hoffman-Peavler was named by four board members, Lauren Gold and Tim Austin were named by two board members, and Darcy Berwick and Scott Hummel were reached named by one member.

Jones was applauded by a small group of citizens in attendance for the meeting.

During public comment, several residents urged the board to consider diversity, equity and inclusion when making their decision. Residents also urged the board to consider the will of the voters during the last election.

More to come.

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5-26-2021 6:37am

I find it odd that people that speak of diversity, inclusion, and equity only speak about it in relation to people’s physical appearance. There is very little diversity of thought on the board. No representation of values, belief systems, or diverse social views. The board will turn SAS into AA schools and once again an exodus will happen. We left SAS because of decisions by the district and the board. More will follow. 

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5-28-2021 1:04pm

Can you define what they mean by Diversity, is all diversity equally valued (physical, mental, spiritual, ...)?  How does the school determine Equity and what is there definition of equity?  What is the schools definition of Inclusion? 

Does inclusion mean having separate transgender athletic sports teams, so the competition is equitable or does it mean if your not comfortable with a biological male and biological female sharing showers, you are intolerant?  My apologies if all Michigan school districts now have private individual shower stalls, they didn't when I was growing up.

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5-26-2021 4:06pm

Why wouldn't the person with the next most votes from the election be offered to fill the seat? I don't remember this person running for a seat during the election. As a result of the board choosing who fills a vacated seat, voters have no say in this selection or know anything about this individual who is now representing the school community. Is this the Board's stated solution to filling seats of vacating members? If so, it should be changed so that voters of the district have a say. Otherwise, it feels like disenfranchisement.

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5-31-2021 12:12pm

Yes, thank you for speaking up, it’s a complete joke that the rest of our very left thinking board pulls a name out of a hat. What are the qualifications of this person? Oh, she’s a person of color so now she’s qualified to sit on the board in Saline.  Give me a break!

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