Hudsonville school board pledges transparency after public raises concerns

HUDSONVILLE — After hearing concerns from community members over actions taken by other boards in Ottawa County this month, the Hudsonville Public Schools Board of Education pledged Thursday, Jan. 19, to act transparently.

More:Ottawa Impact campaigned on transparency. In their first meeting, they blindsided the community.

The board met Thursday for its organizational meeting, including the oath of office for those elected in November — incumbent Barb Hooper and newcomers Greg Chanski and Nick Bolhuis.

More than 100 community members attended the meeting, and several voiced concerns about board members' potential affiliation with Ottawa Impact.

Hooper, Chanski and Bolhuis were listed as “parent picks” by OI but weren't “vetted” or funded by the PAC. The three campaigned together with shared signs and identical values, many similar to those of OI candidates, on their campaign websites.

The group did receive support from the PAC "Education Excellence in HPS." Ottawa Impact founder Joe Moss made a small donation, $25, to the PAC during the campaign cycle.

More:Residents angered over Ottawa Impact policies form coalition to vote them out in 2024

At the end of the meeting, which was conducted according to the agenda, board members assured the community their meetings would remain professional and transparent.

“We will be very transparent,” Hooper, who was elected board president, said. “There will be no added agenda items, unless (Superintendent Doug) VanderJagt brings something forward, as he occasionally does, as it's emergent.”

Chanski repeated a message he shared with VanderJagt earlier this year, following the first board meeting of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 3. During the meeting, after eight Ottawa Impact-backed commissioners were sworn into office, they systematically added several items to the agenda with no public notice.

Those decisions, among other things, included firing the county’s administrator, selecting a different health officer appointee than the previous board put forward in December and firing its longtime legal counsel.

“One of the things I told him is we will never make a travesty of the process,” Chanski said. “We will never do anything that’s going to cause this board to look unprofessional in anything that they do. We’re going to be orderly, we’re going to be process driven."

A dozen community members, including an elementary school student, spoke during public comment.

A handful of speakers mentioned Ottawa Impact, the Allendale Public Schools Board of Educations and the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners. They pleaded with their board to not “follow in the footsteps” of those boards.

“I caution the board in making too many extreme changes too quickly,” one commenter said.

“All three of you ran on transparency. I expect that promise to be held true now that you are on the board.”

More:Newly obtained texts show Ottawa Impact officials orchestrated law firm change before taking office

One commenter said they'd heard of plans to remove VanderJagt from his position.

“I highly recommend you think long and hard on that,” the commenter said. “That man is loved and supported by his staff and this community. There’s no room for politics in this environment and if you can’t recognize that and get on board with representing the district the right way, you should resign immediately.”

There was no board discussion on VanderJagt’s employment status during Thursday’s meeting. VanderJagt was rated “highly effective” by the board in December. Hooper voted in favor of the rating, while Mark Davis, who remains on the board, was the lone vote against it.

The student who spoke called on the board to treat all students with respect and kindness, mentioning a close friend who recently began going by a different name and pronouns. They also called for the board to support teachers.

“At these board meetings, I’ve heard pretty hurtful, aggressive and downright mean comments about our HPS teachers,” the student said. “It’s weird to hear that from adults. I want you to hear from a student that our teachers rock and they need your support.”

The fear of aggressive school board changes was heightened when the Allendale Public Schools Board of Education met for its organization meeting — just days after the county board's first meeting of 2023 — and also voted to oust its legal counsel, replacing it with Kallman Legal Group.

It also discussed leaving the Michigan Association of School Boards, but action was tabled until February. Kallman Legal Group is the same firm hired by the county board. The firm's lawyers have familial ties to Moss' business partner, Joel Kallman.

Text messages obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and shared with The Sentinel showed the Kallman switch had been pre-planned in Allendale, before some board members even took office.

One parent in Allendale recently reached out to new APS Board President Corey Mango, an OI candidate, to ask more than two dozen questions relating to the changes made and the process behind them.

She shared Mango’s response on Facebook.

“Thank you for the time you put into this email," it read. "I can see you are upset by the events from the first meeting and I am pretty sure nothing I can do or say will change that. So, instead of a back and forth argument via email, I will say thank you for your concerns and questions and I will consider them going forward.”

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hudsonville school board pledges transparency after public raises concerns