After attending and voicing his opinions at the Board of Education meetings over the past few years, Terry Collins was appointed on Oct. 26 as the new Grosse Pointe Public School System trustee following former Trustee Brumbaugh’s resignation on Sept. 5.
In the past year, Collins has been involved in the Finance and Facilities Committee, which he believes has helped him experience a board-like setting and has driven his passion for improving the finances of the district. Collins believes a stable fund equity is critical for maintaining equal distribution of funds to those responsible for students’ education.
“[The fund equity is] kind of the most important thing to me, obviously delivering services to the students and making sure parents are involved in their kids’ education,” Collins said. “But I think it all starts with you having a district that’s fiscally sound, and then that allows you to take care of the other items that you’re responsible for as a board member— being able to provide teachers, administrators with the tools necessary because you’ve got a budget that’s can allocate those funds appropriately for those needs.”
Having a financially secure district, according to Collins, enables the community expectations to be met, however, GPEA building representative Colleen Byrn draws attention to the issue of equality among the voices of the community and connects it to her desired qualities of a school board member.
“When you are part of a community, being fairly and equally represented is important,” Byrn said. “Everyone has a voice that deserves to be heard and included for the betterment of our community. I think school board members, as elected officials, need to act in such a way that they are both representing and echoing those needs and interests. Their decisions affect students, teachers, administrators, and all members of our community, which is why it should matter to all those stakeholders.”
While Byrn stresses that Collins being appointed board member will affect the community, sophomore Peter Moe adds that the new trustee in the council will not have a major impact on the school district and could ignite underrepresentation of the community in board decisions.
“I don’t think it is a big change as both before and after the same people of the same political leaning held a majority,” Moe said. “And due to the polarization effect of partisanship in our society, an individual person in the council won’t change more than a vote towards the political agenda of whatever side they sway to, meaning this will not fundamentally impact the school or student body.”
Despite this assertion, Collins hopes to make decisions that will benefit all of the schools in the district. From crafting financial proposals to searching for a new superintendent, he hopes for everyone to receive the benefits the district has to offer.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Collins said. “I think that there’s some great news coming out with our budget audit. I’m excited about the opportunity to be able to choose a new leader for the school district, who hopefully, is going to be around for quite a while and will bring great things to every school in our district.”