IRON MOUNTAIN — Shari Picucci-White was re-elected Monday as president of the Iron Mountain School Board on a 4-2 vote over Darren Petschar.

Other board officers — Vice President Ben DeRidder, Secretary Petschar and Treasurer Jennifer Solka — were re-elected unanimously.

Committee appointments remained the same, including —

— Athletic/Student Activities: Lisa Carollo — chair, Picucci-White, James Carollo;

— Building & Grounds/Technology: DeRidder — chair, Lisa Carollo, James Carollo;

— Community Schools: Petschar — chair, James Carollo;

— Curriculum: Lisa Carollo — chair, Picucci-White, DeRidder;

— Finance: Solka — chair, Lisa Carollo, Picucci-White;

— Negotiations: Picucci-White — chair, Lisa Carollo, Petschar;

​– Personnel: Lisa Carollo — chair, DeRidder, Picucci-White;

— Policy: Juan Saldana — chair, Solka, Petschar.

In other business, the board:

— Learned that Superintendent Jerry Sardina had to hire two new teachers at a Step 3 pay rate instead of Step 1 due to difficulties in finding employees. There is so much competition right now, he told the board. He would like to make it retroactive to all hires who are below Step 3 so they aren’t making less than the newly hired teachers. It would affect between seven and nine teachers would cost the district about $17,000 to $18,000. He plans to approach the Iron Mountain Education Association during upcoming collective bargaining. It’s good to have a full staff so teachers are not overloaded and getting burned out, he said.

— Received an update from Sardina on the HVAC project in the Izzo-Mariucci Center building. The materials are being purchased in spring and should arrive on time for work to begin. They will finally have to dip into the Zanardi Family Trust money to pay $350,000 for those materials.

— Approved a sick time request from a bargaining unit member according to the 2024-2026 Bargaining Agreement Article 7, Section 8, which allows a person to access up to 30 days of additional sick time once the employee has depleted other vacation, personal days and sick time. The employee must pay back the time at five days per year. Once the 30 days are done, they can’t be used by any other staff members until they are paid back.

— Heard from bus driver Ashley Servant and owner Laura Baumler of Choice Transportation, who asked the district to be more receptive to suggestions from the company on road conditions when considering whether to have school, have a two-hour delay or close. Servant, who has been a driver for six years, said it can be especially difficult and dangerous on side roads that don’t get attention the main roads receive.

— Learned the Iron Mountain-Kingsford Community Schools has donated $150,000 to both Iron Mountain and Kingsford school districts.

— Hired Maria Langsford as communication coordinator, with a start date of Dec. 29, and Emily Koski as 512 building special education teacher, with a start date of Jan. 5.

— Accepted resignations from Jeff McLean as high school varsity baseball coach and Tom Thomann as junior varsity volleyball coach, effective immediately.

— Approved Bionca Nattiel and Eric Penn as middle school yearbook co-advisors.

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Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.