Grosse Pointe School Board Accepting Applications for Vacancy

Anyone interested in filling the vacancy on the Grosse Pointe Public School Board should submit an application to the district administration offices by 4 p.m. April 12.

District officials posted several pieces of information to the district website Tuesday in an effort to alert the public to the process for filling the vacancy created last week by the immediate resignation of Brendan Walsh.

Walsh accepted a new job and submitted his resignation from the board due to new professional responsibilities. He had been on the board since 2005 and served as the board treasurer.

The board's policies require that a replacement be chosen by a majority vote of the remaining members within 30 days of the vacancy. Beyond 30 days and the decision is made by the intermediate school district.

Walsh's unexpected resignation came hours before the district shut down for spring break--timing that had potential to slow the replacement process.

Officials established a timeline Tuesday that includes having all applications submitted to the board's secretary, trustee Lois Valente, by 4 p.m. April 12. Following the submission of applications, copies of the resumes, letters of intent and applications will be provided to the board members for their review.

Candidates will then go through an interview with the board the week of April 22. The board will make a decision no later than April 29 and will have to do so in a meeting that will be announced at a later date after the scheduling of interviews is made.

According to the information posted to the district's website, candidates should:

• be a registered voter within the school district boundaries, which means in any of the Grosse Pointes or in the portion of Harper Woods served by the schools
• willing to take office immediately upon acceptance

The two-page questionaire for candidates wishing to be considered asks questions about connections to the district, education, professional experience, interest in the board, time capabilities and more. The questionaire is also available eletronically.

Superintendent Tom Harwood told Patch Friday that he does not believe finding a replacement will be a problem. He believes there will be plenty of applicants. The replacement process is the responsibility of the board not the district, which means Board President Joan Dindoffer will be leading the efforts in interviewing and selecting a candidate.

All of the documents are also attached to this story in the photos and PDFs section.

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