More From the 11/17 School Board Meeting.

Who is Joan Berndt ?

Taking the Oath of Office

Berndt, a lifelong Bloomfield Township resident, and an oboe player, earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music from the University of Michigan.

She then taught music in Oakland County elementary and secondary schools In Birmingham, Rochester and Ferndale and at Oakland University.

She was also the conductor of the Troy Community Orchestra for ten years.

Her husband, William, of over 50 years, was a high school band director.  

By taking the oath of office , Joan was able 

to taker her seat on the dais that very evening.

Their son Ross is  graduate of Lahser High School.

In addition to her extensive and volunteer work on school board committees, board members cited Berndt’s background as an educator as a reason for making her their first choice.

Berndt, will serve until the election November of 2012 at which time she must, in order to retain her seat, be elected by the residents.

 If she is elected she will serve the remainder of Peterson’s term which ends in 2014.

In other school board developments, Brian Goby director of the school districts Physical Plant Services requested the school administration to proceed with seeking bids for a long list of improvements.

These projects to be completed in 2012-2013 are to be funded from the sinking fund.

 He also requested $325,000 “for emergency, unplanned, and strategic roof repair.”

That prompted Board Vice President, Ed Ford to ask, “How do we arrive at facilities in Bloomfield Hills that would not rival those in third world countries? “

Mr. Goby replied that the district had over million square feet of roof surface. He also said that many a of the upcoming projects involved mundane items periodically in need replacement items  like doors and window. When all project are completed, Goby estimates that  there would still be $7 million dollars in the sinking fund.

The School Board also honored district students who were selected as National Commended Scholars or National Merit Semi Finalists.

The pictured  students were the only Academic Honorees able to attend the Board meeting to receive their awards in person. Andover students to be recognized as National Commended Scholars: Alexander Chocron, Taha Suhrawardy, Elliot VanValkenburg, and Iris Wu. National Merit Semifinalists: Mark Andonian, ASllison Donnelly, Harrison Kenum, Zachary Prebay, Jennifer Sterbenz,Hiba Chaabi, Stacy Hanus, Yun Bin Park,Jonathan Schiff, Vic Sun, and Chelsea Zhou.
Lahser Student to be recognized as National Commended Scholars: Marlene Heberling.

The Lahser tennis team was also recognized for making the state finals. Participants include Rob Emmitt, Lorenzo Lorenzetti, Max Scher,Micheal Daniels, David Gwidzdala, AJ Smith, Trevor Wod, Max Hemmerich, Matthew Meehan, O'neal Koger, Rohan Sinha, and Brendan Tsai.

 Kyra Weeks, a student at Andover high school, and the district's only  merit semifinalist to be honored in in two categories, was also unable to attend.

 She also has a role in the school’s production of Beauty and the Beast  whose opening night coincided with that of the board meeting.