Novi Times

The Clarkston Community Schools Board of Education accepted the resignation of one of their members at its March 13 meeting.

Board President Kelli Horst announced that the board would be accepting the resignation of Andrea Catalina, who resigned earlier in the month.

Catalina, who has been on the board for nearly seven years, cited increased responsibilities and time dedicated to her teaching job at a local school as the reasons for her resignation.

She added that she did not want to take time away from either responsibility or have a conflict of interest while making board decisions.

Horst said they always valued her insights from a teacher’s perspective in all of their board discussions. The board wished her well in the rest of her career and thanked her for everything she has done for the district over the past few years.

In light of the vacancy on their board, the members of the Clarkston district sent out a notice to the community that they would be receiving applications and doing interviews for new board members in a special board meeting this week.

The board interviewed over a dozen applicants, giving them roughly five minutes to pitch for themselves and answer some questions from the board members.

One of them was Greg Need, who spoke about his perspective as an attorney and legal knowledge, his comfort in the district, and his personal connection with the community.  He was a board member for the Clarkston district since 2015 and ran for reelection in 2022 but lost in the November election.

“This is a time where I think you need someone experienced as opposed to trying to orient somebody that has no understanding or background necessarily with the district and how it operates,” said Need. “Budget time is almost upon us, and I’ve been through that process many times, when that’s done then it will be the new year and doing goal setting and establishing priorities and I’ve been through that process several times. And of course, we have the bond that we have to exercise our fiduciary responsibilities for the bond and I’ve gone through that process with the 2015 bond. I know the key administrators, I know Dr. Ryan, I don’t need to go through an introductory process there. So, I think I’m well-suited (with) experience.”

After all of the interviews, the board members decided that Need’s experience separated him from the other candidates and voted to select him to fill the vacancy, and welcomed him back to the board.