Board of Education Left In The Dark
-Power outage felt across District; schools, administration building, and even board meeting goes dark. More pictures at the end of the post.
If there is one thing that most elected officials do not like it’s being “in the dark” but that is exactly what happened to the Dearborn Board of Education at their Monday, March 13, 2017 meeting. The power outage at the administration building occurred around 8:00 pm just as the Board was about to hear a special report on “March is Reading Month”. Ironically, power had been restored to the building earlier that day after being in the dark since high winds blew through the area last Wednesday.
Although there were no microphones, computers, or television cameras there were enough cell phones, flashlights, and battery operated television lights to provide just enough illumination to continue the meeting. The Board was able to hear an abbreviated version of the “March is Reading Month” report but a second report on “Leadership Development” was postponed until April.
The Board also took time to hear from both current and former students who are part of a committee requesting the Board of Education name the television studio at Dearborn High after founder of the program and longtime educator Mr. Russ Gibb. The Board was favorable to the idea and suggested that perhaps rather than naming just a physical space after Mr. Gibb, now in his 80’s, the committee consider naming the program in honor of the retired teacher and mentor. The Board will consider the recommendation from the committee before a formal vote is taken at an upcoming meeting.
Across the District several schools were impacted by the massive power outage. Dr. Maleyko, Superintendent of the Dearborn Public Schools provided the Board with an update on the impact of the storm. On Thursday, March 9, 2017 more than 12 different schools were without power. The number decreased to six on Friday and by late Monday night only Edsel Ford remained without power. The school came back on-line at 3:30 a.m. for a chilly start to the school day.
“The Board of Education and I appreciate the hard work and dedication of all our staff members. They showed a real commitment to support our schools and especially our students during these difficult conditions caused by the power outages and winter weather,” commented Superintendent Maleyko.
The Superintendent posted a letter to the community on his blog that describes how he and his team made the decision to close all schools on March 9 and keep the District open on March 10th. The complete letter can be found at: https://superintendent.dearbornschools.org/2017/03/10/the-last-48-hours-with-power-outages-and-the-decision-to-close-schools/
“Over the past few days we saw many examples of staff members who stepped up, helped one another, and demonstrated the team philosophy that shows the commitment to our vision statement of students first; inspire, educate, celebrate. I couldn’t be more proud to be the Superintendent in Dearborn,” Dr. Maleyko commented.
The Picture to the right is before the power went out.
Vice-President Meade reads the next agenda item with a flashlight.
Students presenting on the potential naming of the Russ Gibb Studio.
