Novi Times

Bloomfield Hills Superintendent Patrick Watson told school board trustees that he was proud of their resiliency at a recent meeting.

“The contributions collectively made in your combined 18 years of service leave a legacy of the positive and lasting impacts of your service for years to come,” said Wilson. “Serving as a school board member means being vulnerable and brave, to put your name on an election ballot. In making the difficult decisions for the district, you've had to make a lot of difficult decisions for its employees, students during all of your years on the board. Board members commit to reading reports, learning the laws, understanding the community needs, setting intentional goals and maintaining oversight of the district's financial resources. It means being available to hear from our stakeholders that the community conversation events at athletic and recreation events or at all the community events. It means committing to the time it takes to do the job right and that is no small commitment.”  

In attendance were trustees Jennifer Matlow, Lisa Efros and Howard Baron. Among the board’s highlights that Watson mentioned was opening the new Bloomfield Hills High, unifying two high schools, cultivating a new strategic plan to capitalize on merging industries and bond funding to restructure the district.

A video montage was shown during the meeting that numerous events from the past six years.

Trustee Howard Baron said district school provides the blueprint for other school districts in the state to follow to be “financially successful.” He hopes that children throughout the state will eventually be afforded the same opportunities that students who go to Bloomfield Hills schools have.

“All 1.4 million K-12 students in the state should be able to reach their full academic and social potential, eliminating opportunity gaps wherever they exist. I hope to either be appointed by the governor to fill the opening, the current opening that exists on the state board or to be elected by the voters of Michigan in 2024,” said Baron. “I have learned that over the past decade, no one on the state school board has served on a local school board. Bringing this grassroots knowledge and expertise to the state board table will give me the opportunity to try and bring and make my educational vision a reality. So I want to, in closing, say I want to thank you, the voters of Bloomfield Hills schools, for twice electing me to this school board and this wonderful district. It has been a great honor to serve both you and your students for the past decade.”