The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Board member retires, six vie for seat
High school senior to run for seat
By Dan Duchene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 8, 2007
After 13 years serving on the Willow Run Schools' Board of Education, Scott Wilson retired Feb. 15.
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"I had to get real," Wilson said. "I just don't have the time."
Wilson said he has several personal matters he needs to address, and he doesn't feel he can adequately address the responsibilities of serving as a board member any longer.
"I could have stayed on," he said. "It would have been a struggle to give (the board) the time it needed."
If he had stayed, Wilson said he would have been looking at dedicating about 16 hours per week to perform his duties.
"I just don't have that time to put into a week," he said.
Wilson, a longtime area resident, moved to Superior Township in 1984 with his wife Donna and their two children.
"I fell in love with the area," Wilson said. "We both love the area."
The couple has two children, both Willow Run graduates. Donald, 24, is an Internet service provider technician and their daughter Heather, 24, is a culinary arts student at Washtenaw Community College.
Wilson said he had been active in his children's school district since 1986 before his stint on the school board.
"Going to the board was the next step," he said.
Wilson was appointed to the board in 1994, replacing Gregory Peoples who had resigned. He said he and Brenda Clay, the board's secretary, had started at the same time.
"There were a lot of things needed to be done with the district," Wilson said when asked why he chose to apply and run for re-election.
"I wanted to see good leadership."
Wilson said he is not happy with the timing of his resignation.
"I'm really disappointed," he said. "I feel like I'm leaving things undone."
A realtor by trade, Wilson took some time off two years ago to work on his manuscript for a fiction novel. He said that he is close to landing a publisher for his book.
Aside from his writing ambition, Wilson has several projects lined up for Willow Run Schools as well.
He said he hopes to put together a low-frequency radio station at the middle school. Perhaps starting with in-house broadcasting, he hopes to assemble a 100-watt system.
Looking back on his experience on the board, Wilson said his biggest regret was the time spent with former Willow Run Superintendent Douglas Benit, who was released from his position in Nov. 2005 because of alleged ties to a district technology supplier. He now faces federal criminal charges of fraud stemming from a previous tenure at Ecorse Public Schools.
"We hired a conman and we bought some of his cons," Wilson said. "We let him lead us down a road that put us right behind the barrel."
He said there should have been action taken earlier to remedy the district's impending financial crisis. He said Benit had told the board that he had a plan up until he was fired.
The district must now alleviate a $1.8 million deficit from its fund balance. Wilson said the district should have seen the problem farther in advance.
"There's a lot of things the district needs to do," Wilson said.
One of the needs, he said, was to hold board members accountable. He said there are board members who "instead of showing leadership have just tried to divide the district."
Replacing Wilson
Six applicants have submitted their interest in filling the seat vacated by Wilson last month.
Mark Wilde, Benita Threadgill Matthews, (Omer) Jean Winborn, Dorothy Blackmon, Travis Greer and Kristine Thomas have all submitted applications for appointment to the vacated seat.
Wilde and Thomas are previous members of the school board who had lost re-election last year. Both Greer and Thomas plan on running for the seat once the appointee's term ends in June.
Ron Cirrana, superintendent for Willow Run Schools, said the board will choose the applicant.
Board elections will be held from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 8.
Voters will be able to choose from Greer, a graduating Willow Run senior, and Thomas, a previous member of the Willow Run Board of Education.
Kristine Thomas
Kristine Thomas is a mother of two children in the district, she was appointed to the board in June 2005, to fill the seat vacated by Avery Heninberg, whom had resigned.
In last year's school board election, Thomas lost her seat to Dorothy Stewart, the current board treasurer. She said she learned from her loss last year, and hopes to regain a seat this year.
"Being that it was my first campaign, there was definitely a learning curve," Thomas said. "I tried to do a lot on my own and you can't do that."
This time around, Thomas said she plans to do a lot more door-to-door campaigning, in addition to attending more meetings. She has assembled a campaign committee.
Thomas, along with her husband Glenn, have two children in the district. Their daughter Kathryn is a junior at Willow Run High School and they have another daughter, Sarah, a seventh-grader at Willow Run Middle School.
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