Okemos board elects officers, affirms meeting schedule and committee assignments

At the organizational portion of the January meeting the board adopted Robert’s Rules of Order for conduct of the organizational meeting and moved through officer elections and committee assignments.

Trustees nominated and elected Tom Buffet as board president by voice vote. The board also elected Trustee Andy Phelps as vice president, Trustee Shulan Doxey/Doxie as secretary, and Trustee Katie Kavanaugh as treasurer; motions were moved and seconded and all were approved by voice vote. Trustees established regular meetings to occur generally on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the community conference room at Central School, with a policy that meetings should conclude new discussion after 10 p.m.

The board discussed committee assignments and named trustees to standing committees — policy, advocacy, facilities, personnel and finance — and agreed to form ad hoc committees to support the superintendent transition. President Buffet noted the organizational meeting’s formal conclusion and administration recorded the time when the meeting returned to open session.

The elections and committee assignments were procedural actions aimed at setting governance structure for the 2026 calendar; no substantive policy changes were made during these votes.