IRON MOUNTAIN – The oath of office was taken by two new members of the Iron Mountain School District Board of Education, and the leadership of the board remains the same following a reorganizational meeting Wednesday.

Newly elected board members Dean Lefebvre and Jeff Porier were sworn in at the beginning of the meeting followed by the election of officers for the year. Jeff Michaud was re-elected board president.

Other officers re-elected at the meeting were Rob Langsford as vice president, Lisa Basanese as secretary and Steve Brooks as treasurer of the board.

In celebration of School Board Appreciation month, the Iron Mountain Student Council presented the board with a plaque showing that a donation of $250 was made to the Iron Mountain General Scholarship Fund on behalf of the school board of education. This was made by the Student Council to recognize the work done by the board.

Other reorganizational business included designating depositories and attorneys as well as changing the monthly meeting from the second Monday of the month to the third Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. in the Izzo-Mariucci Center commons area. The motion passed 5-2 with Porier and Michaud opposed.

The board also approved setting no board salary for the 2015 year.

In other action, the board:

– Passed a resolution for state aid borrowing. This is used at times when its necessary to borrow to meet the district cash flow, said Director of Finance Jennifer Huotari.

– Approved the administrative contracts as presented with salary reductions and payment of insurance the same as contracts already settled with the two unions. Lefebvre said that he wasn’t against the contracts but felt they all needed to be for the same amount of time – two or three years. Porier felt that it wasn’t fair for him to vote on the contracts since he hadn’t had time to evaluate them. He also felt they should act on the contracts individually and not as a group. Michaud said that points made by the two new members were noted and would be taken under advisement. “But for the action tonight, all the contracts will be voted on as a group.” The motion passed 5-2 with Lefebvre and Porier opposed.

– Accepted the resignations of Rebecca Pearson and Lindsey Solka, both educational assistants with regret.

– Approved hiring Jacqueline Geneva as a North Elementary School educational assistant for five hours. The board will have to now post for the two other EA open positions.

– Heard from Supt. Tom Jayne that a $20,000 donation had been received from Mike and Judy Pretschold to be used for special education needs. The money is being used for the new assistant position at North Elementary School as well as after school remediation/homework clubs twice a week. Mike is a 1959 graduate of Iron Mountain High School and had previously set up a scholarship to remember his principal, Miss Caroline Hofer. Other donations throughout the years from the Pretscholds have been made to purchase classroom materials aimed to help at-risk and special education programs and students.

Linda Lobeck’s e-mail address is llobeck@ironmountaindailynews.com.