CHEBOYGAN — Three new people were appointed to serve on the Cheboygan Area Schools Board of Education in September following a string of resignations from the board.
During the school board’s August meeting, Dennis Olsen’s resignation was accepted. Olsen told the Daily Tribune his resignation wasn’t because of any problems with the district — he just felt he had accomplished everything he wanted to do while sitting on the board.
Olsen started on the board in 2022. He said he originally joined because he wanted to help make changes that would better prepare Cheboygan students for life, work or college after graduation.
“I don’t have kids in the school system anymore, I don’t have grandkids. I have nieces and nephews but really, I thought it was time for me to step aside and let somebody else with a bigger vested interest make changes for their kids, make changes for their grandkids,” Olsen said.
Shortly after Olsen’s resignation, Marianne Ridings and Carmela Boyd both submitted their own letters of resignation.
To conduct business, the board needs four active members for a quorum. The remaining four members were at the Sept. 23 meeting to interview and appoint people to the three open seats.
A total of eight people were interviewed to fill the partial terms.
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To appoint someone to the board, all four members need to agree on who to bring in. The board appointed Debra Buehner, Travis Neville and Richard Pilon to fill the open seats.
Buehner went to school in the district and served as a teacher for 31 years before returning to the Cheboygan area. She said she wanted to give back to the community where she was raised.
Neville said he moved up the area recently, and is a former educator who taught for 11 years. He is now a builder and said he appreciates the tradition in Cheboygan and the love of athletics.
Pilon is a 1981 graduate of Cheboygan High School. He said he’s lived in the area for a long time, but because his work requires him to be out of state so often, he wanted to give back to the community. Pilon added that he wants to make sure the district prepares students with the skills they need to be successful in life.
Ridings and Boyd did not respond to a request for comment.
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan school board back to full strength following 3 appointments
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