Iron Mountain Board elects Picucci-White president, approves committee rosters, hires and $150,000 contribution

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. — At its Jan. 12 organizational meeting, the Iron Mountain Board of Education elected Shari Picucci-White president and approved a slate of organizational designations, personnel actions and a $150,000 contribution from IM-K Community Schools.

The meeting, called to order by Superintendent Jerry Sardina at 5:30 p.m. in the school district Media Center, completed nominations and roll-call votes for board officers. After split ballots, Shari Picucci-White was elected Board President. Ben DeRidder was elected Vice President, Darren Petschar was elected Secretary and Jennifer Solka was elected Treasurer; the latter three offices were decided unanimously. The Board also adopted committee rosters for Athletics/Student Activities, Building & Grounds/Technology, Curriculum, Finance, Negotiations, Personnel, Policy, the IMKCS Advisory Board and a Scholarship Committee.

The organizational motion approved a series of routine designations for 2026: a set of depository banks (First National Bank of Iron Mountain; Northern Interstate Bank of Norway; First Bank of Upper Michigan; Bank of New York Mellon; BMO Harris Bank); Director of Finance Amanda Thoune was designated Electronic Funds Officer and Investment Officer; signature-authority and check-signing protocols were set; authorized credit-card and district cell-phone users were named; the Board authorized the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and the Superintendent to sign business contracts; regular meeting dates were set for the second Monday of each month; and the district designated Thrun Law Firm, PC and Ryan & Lynch Law as attorneys for 2026. The Board also voted that no board salaries will be paid in 2026 in accordance with Board Policy 2306.

On personnel matters the Board accepted letters of resignation from athletic coaches Jeff McLean (head varsity baseball) and Tom Thomann (JV volleyball). The Board approved the hire of Maria Langsford as Communications Coordinator with a start date of Dec. 29, 2025, and Emily Koski as a 512 Special Education teacher with a start date of Jan. 5, 2026, contingent on satisfactory state and FBI criminal background checks as required by state law (Public Act 189). The Board also approved Bionca Nattiel and Eric Penn as Middle School Yearbook Co-Advisors and granted a bargaining-unit member access to the district sick-time bank under Article 7, Section 8 of the 2024–2026 Iron Mountain Education Association bargaining agreement. All personnel motions recorded unanimous support (6–0).

The Board received administrative updates from Superintendent Sardina, who said contractor shipments for an HVAC project are arriving and contractors are on track to begin work in April, and that the district opted out under the December ruling on 31aa by the Dec. 30 deadline. Sardina also reminded the Board that two positions will be on the 2026 ballot and nomination paperwork will be due in the summer; he said a special meeting will be scheduled later in January to address an employee separation agreement currently being negotiated.

Votes at a glance: The Board recorded the following outcomes by roll call or unanimous consent — President (Shari Picucci-White elected; vote: Lisa Carollo yes, Ben DeRidder yes, Darren Petschar yes, Shari Picucci-White yes, James Carollo no, Juan Saldana no); Vice President (Ben DeRidder elected, 6–0); Secretary (Darren Petschar elected, 6–0); Treasurer (Jennifer Solka elected, 6–0); Approval of the agenda (moved by Lisa Carollo, supported by Juan Saldana; 6–0); Acceptance of coaching resignations (6–0); Approval of hires (6–0); Approval of Middle School Yearbook Co-Advisors (6–0); Approval of sick-time bank usage (6–0); Approval of organizational items and designations for 2026 (6–0); Acceptance of IM-K Community Schools budget adjustment and project contribution (6–0); Adjournment (6–0).

Board member Darren Petschar told the Board that IM-K Community Schools plans to give Iron Mountain Public Schools a $150,000 project contribution; the Board voted to amend the 2025–26 budget to include the IM-K contribution and a related project contribution to Breitung Township Schools.

The Board adjourned at 6:24 p.m. The next regular meeting was scheduled for the second Monday of the month in the district Media Center; a special meeting will be scheduled later in January to address the employee separation matter referenced by the superintendent.