Tuesday night voters overwhelming approved a millage renewal for the Chelsea District Schools 1,133-442 votes according to unofficial results, and Wednesday, two members of the State Board of Education visited the school district.
As far as Superintendent of Schools Andy Ingall knows, the day-long visit by the state Board of Education members is a first for the district.
Ingall said the visit was orchestrated by Director of Bands Rick Catherman, who through his National Board Certification, attends a once-a-year education conference where he met State Board of Education Member Kathleen Strauss during a break-out session.
Catherman said that sometimes discussions on education focus on the negative aspects and he wanted Strauss to see all the positive things taking place in the Chelsea District.
He invited her to the district, he said, to see for herself all the programs and innovations taking place, and the two began emailing to set a date.
On May 8, Strauss and Michelle Fecteau arrived in Chelsea and were given a tour of all the schools — Bulldog style.
Plus, they had lunch at the Common Grill with community partners Library Director Bill Harmer, Chamber of Commerce Director Bob Pierce and SRSLY Coalition Director Reilly Curran so they could hear about the community collaborations with the schools.
When they got ready to leave, neither the school district nor the visiting dignitaries ended up paying for the networking lunch at the popular downtown restaurant. They said an anonymous donor picked up the tab to show their appreciation for the work the school district does for the children of Chelsea.
Both Strauss and Fecteau said they could not have been more impressed with what they saw in the district.
In fact, Strauss called the day-long visit “very impressive” after touring all the schools and experiencing some of the classroom innovations.
“I wish we could clone this,” said Fecteau.
