Rich Rossway, re-elected president of the Marquette Area Public Schools Board of Education

MARQUETTE — Rich Rossway was re-elected president of the Marquette Area Public Schools Board of Education at its organizational meeting on Monday.

Brian Cherry was re-elected vice president while Trustee Kristen Cambensy was elected secretary-treasurer, succeeding James Hewitt.

In other business the board approved:

≤ designating the following people as authorized to sign contracts and agreements on behalf of the school board: secretary-treasurer, president, superintendent, assistant superintendent and supervisor of special education services, as well as building principals for building use/rental contracts, student assembly contracts, magazine sales contracts, student picture contracts, and other contracts and agreements as designated by the superintendent.

Others authorized to sign were the athletic director for contracts and agreements as designated by the superintendent; the auxiliary services director for bid awards, maintenance contracts, contracts for services and other contracts as designated by the superintendent; the directors of technology and Kaufman Auditorium as designated by the superintendent; and the human resources manager for contracts and agreements for employee insurance benefits as designed by the superintendent.

• authorized MAPS administrators to approve purchase orders.

• authorized Debra Barry, assistant superintendent, and Janine Blemberg, business manager, to transfer funds between accounts.

• authorized the board secretary’s delegation of posting notices of meetings to Linda Hopper, administrative assistant to the superintendent/board.

• named the Thrun Law Firm as providers of legal services to MAPS.

• authorized the secretary-treasurer’s delegation of school election responsibilities to Barry.

Board meeting dates were set for the rest of the school year, with regular board meetings scheduled for Jan. 21 at the Marquette Senior High School library, Feb. 18 at the Marquette Alternative High School library, March 18 at the Superior Hills Elementary School library, April 15 at the Graveraet Elementary School cafeteria, May 20 at the Sandy Knoll Elementary School gymnasium, June 10 at the MSHS library and June 24 at the MSHS library where a budget hearing also will be held. All meetings begin at 5:30 p.m.

The board approved adoption of the Michigan Retirement Investment Consortium resolution, which expands an allowable limit that people can deposit for retirement into a different fund, a 457(b) plan.

Barry called it another option for employees to invest.

“It’s an incentive to help people invest towards retirement, which I think is really prudent given the nature of how our retirement has changed,” she said.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, plans eligible under 457(b) allow employees of sponsoring organizations to defer income taxation on retirement savings into future years.