BAY MILLS - The Bay Mills Ojibwe Charter School Board of Directors met on Monday, April 24 for a regularly scheduled meeting. All board members were present, as was a large contingent of OCS teachers and staff who were on hand to hear what Mosaica Education Inc. Regional Vice President Bill Ignatowski had to say about Mosaica's recent decision to pull out of the management of the high school.
OCS board member Terry Carrick said he was told recently by Mosaica President Gene Edelman that the company wanted to opt out of their contract with the high school, which would include ninth through 10th grades. Carrick said it is time for the board to begin discussing options for the high school, which only has 24 students enrolled for next year. Carrick added that while the board's goal was to always work towards self-management of the school, he said he doesn't believe the board is ready to take on that challenge at this juncture.
"Our goal, as a board, has always to be self-managed," Carrick said. "I just don't know that we are ready to be 100 percent self-managed, right now. I think it's time we start taking a serious look at some other options."
Board member Aaron Tadgerson said he felt used and betrayed by Mosaica's decision, because when the school signed their eight-year management contract with Mosaica three years ago they had always led the school to believe they supported their efforts to add a grade each year. Tadgerson said that Mosaica seemingly proceeded to go behind their back when they declined to manage the high school on such a short notice and right after they collected their management fees. The short notice has caused Tadgerson and the rest of the board to scramble to find help in the management of the high school, which he said could include the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan helping out with some accounting work, and a company called QPR helping out with some compliance issues and with the curriculum.
"We're not left with nothing," Tadgerson said. "If we plan for success with what we've already started, which is a strong belief in our kids, then we'll be well off. The timing of Mosaica's decision to discontinue their help is poor. In my mind, they breached their contract. But right now we have a school to worry about so I don't want to waste our time wrangling on a legal issue."
Ignatowski said Mosaica's reasoning behind their decision was because their high school model doesn't fit well with OCS' model because their curriculum is designed for kids who are going on to college. He said he had spent a great deal of time with Edelman weighing the pros and cons of managing the high school and said that they decided the school would be better off if it were self-managed. A lot of the current problems are the board's responsibility Ignatowski said, including securing of a new building, or creating a separate facility for separation. Once again, Ignatowski reiterated that Mosaica's official word was that they were in no way interested in managing the high school.
"We are just not interested in managing the high school," Ignatowski said. "But we are interested in the success of the school. We will help with the success of the high school in whatever way we can, but our goal is to make a successful transition to high school. We will honor our commitment for K through eight, because that's where our skill is at."
After discussing their options for the management of the high school, Carrick said he would like to discuss management of the K through five portion as well, due to what he believes is a breach of contract, at the next board meeting. He made a motion to accept Mosaica Education Inc.'s offer to terminate their contract for grades six through 12, effective on June 30, with the option to terminate the contract in its entirety at the next board meeting on May 8. The motion passed, unanimously.
