Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Board Organization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Allegan Public Schools board elects 2026 officers, approves hires, salary schedule and band trip
Summary
At its Jan. 12 organizational meeting the Allegan Public Schools Board unanimously elected Christopher Hodge president and other officers, approved a personnel report, payroll/payables, a tentative teacher salary schedule and an Allegan High School band trip to Indianapolis.
The Allegan Public Schools Board of Education unanimously elected Christopher Hodge president and approved a slate of organizational and operational items at its Jan. 12, 2026, organizational meeting at district administration offices.
Mary Kasprzyk nominated Hodge for president; the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous vote for Hodge (motion 25/26-061) was moved by Kasprzyk and supported by Amanda Nash and carried on a 6–0 vote with Vicki Knuckles absent. Kasprzyk then nominated Drew Isola for vice president (motion 25/26-062), Nash nominated Kasprzyk for treasurer (motion 25/26-063) and Kasprzyk nominated Nash for secretary (motion 25/26-064). All officer elections passed unanimously with six ayes and one member absent.
The board approved the minutes from the Dec. 8, 2025 regular and closed sessions (motion 25/26-065). It then confirmed committee and representative appointments: Building & Grounds will include Hodge, Isola and Brad van Melle; Finance, PR/School Improvement and Curriculum matters will involve the whole board; Personnel will include Knuckles, Lake and Nash; and Policy will include Hodge, Kasprzyk and Knuckles. Amanda Nash was appointed as the district representative to the Allegan County School Board Association for 2026, with Katherine Lake as alternate, and Drew Isola was appointed as the district’s delegated representative to the MASB Legislative Relations Network.
The board appointed Deborah Dangremond, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent and Board of Education, as the person responsible for district election duties and as recording secretary (motion 25/26-068).
On personnel matters, the board approved the Personnel Report (motion 25/26-069), authorizing the hiring of Terri DeRoo, Jaymee Groendyk, Keeghan Pickett and Destiny Rienstra; a leave of absence for Monica Spieker; the resignation of Kenny Whitcomb; and the retirement of Shelly Knobloch. The motion passed 6–0 with one absence.
Financial and compensation items approved included payment of bills for December 2025 (payroll vouchers dated Dec. 5 and Dec. 19, 2025, and accounts payable checks) under motion 25/26-070, and approval of a tentative teacher salary schedule covering the 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 years under motion 25/26-071. Both motions passed unanimously with one member absent.
The board also approved Allegan High School Band’s participation in the Bands of America Grand National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov. 12–14, 2026 (motion 25/26-072).
The meeting concluded after the board received several informational items, including pupil count and upcoming school events, and adjourned at 7:45 p.m. following motion 25/26-073.
