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Utica Community Schools Board elects 2026 officers, sets meetings, committees and stipends
Summary
At its Jan. 12 organizational meeting, the Utica Community Schools Board of Education unanimously elected its 2026 officers, established a committee structure and regular meeting schedule, approved member stipends and officer salaries, and appointed a federal relations liaison.
The Utica Community Schools Board of Education met Jan. 12, 2026 at the Joan C. Sergent Instructional Resource Center in Sterling Heights and took a series of unanimous procedural actions to organize the board for the year.
Dr. Mary K. Smolenski, Board President, opened the organizational meeting and explained that the session establishes officers, the meeting schedule and committee structure for the calendar year. The board then called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
The board elected temporary officers for the organizational meeting—Denyeal Nesovski as Chairperson and Kelli Rankin as Secretary—and later moved to elect permanent officers for 2026. By unanimous votes, the board elected Mary K. Smolenski as Board President; Denyeal Nesovski as Vice President; Kelli Rankin as Board Secretary; and Steven R. Meyer as Board Treasurer.
Members also confirmed the board’s composition and current terms: Smolenski and Meyer (terms expiring Dec. 31, 2026); Nesovski and Machelle Fitzpatrick (terms expiring Dec. 31, 2028); and Kelli Rankin, Kimberly Becker and Michael Austerman (terms expiring Dec. 31, 2030).
The board adopted its officer structure and codified duties for president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, as recorded in the meeting minutes. It also resolved to organize annually in January.
The board set its regular meeting schedule as the third Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Joan C. Sergent Instructional Resource Center, with the following 2026 exceptions: the January organizational/regular meeting will be held on the second Monday in January; the February regular meeting will be held on Feb. 9, 2026 (second Monday) because of the mid-winter break; and the December regular meeting will be held on Dec. 14, 2026 (second Monday) because of the holiday break.
A committee system was established comprising a Capital Projects Subcommittee, Curriculum Subcommittee, Finance Subcommittee and Employee Services Subcommittee. The minutes state that committee chairs will be appointed by the Board President.
On compensation, the board approved a stipend of $50 for attendance at each regular, special or committee meeting (payment not to exceed $50 in any one calendar day). The board set the Treasurer’s salary at $800 per year and the Secretary’s salary at $700 per year.
The Secretary was designated to post public notices of meetings with authority to delegate that duty to administrative staff. The board also appointed Machelle Fitzpatrick as the Federal Relations Network (FRN) liaison, with Michael Austerman as the alternate.
There was no correspondence or requests for public communication related to the organizational meeting. The board adjourned at 6:41 p.m. and the minutes were signed by Kelli Rankin, Secretary.
