Some “technical education services” were able to resume this week, under new guidance from the Michigan Department of Education and under the MDHHS COVID-19 emergency orders.

A memo from the MDE dated Dec. 9 states in part, “Gatherings at trade schools and career schools are permitted for the purpose of providing technical education services, including manufacturing, industrial technology, trades, and cosmetology, but only to the extent that these activities cannot be completed remotely.”

“They realize that those things can’t really be done virtually, that they need the hands-on stuff,” CCISD Superintendent George Stockero said.

Wednesday marked the first day that CTE classes were allowed to meet in person. Stockero said he was worried students not required to attend normal classes would not go to the CTE classes either. 80% of the students attended for day one.

“You could tell the kids were very excited to be in school,” he said.

In November, the CCISD board voted to undertake the search for a new superintendent without the help of a recruitment company. Stockero announced in September that his retirement would be effective at the end of June 2021, and is leading the search for his own replacement.

According to Stockero, five of the seven board members worked with a recruitment company seven years ago when they hired him, and felt like they remembered the process well enough to save the district the cost of paying the recruiter this time.

“I think it was fresh enough in most minds,” Stockero said, “That they felt that they as a group, with my help doing the grunt work, felt that they didn’t need to spend the money on bringing in an outside group.”

A survey asking for feedback on the desired experience and intention of a new superintendent was distributed to several interested groups. The survey asks about the importance of different job experience and whether a new superintendent should make big changes or “stay the course”.

“Every survey is the same, but four different sectors,” Stockero said.

The first group is the CCISD staff as a group. The second sector is all the local school principals and superintendents. The next group was all of the local school board members. The final survey was sent out to the chambers of commerce in Houghton, Keweenaw and Baraga counties, the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance and has been widely shared online. 

The survey is not available on the CCISD website.

The posting for the position is available on the CCISD’s website, copperisd.org. It was also posted to the Michigan Association of School Administrators’ website, and in newspapers across the Upper Peninsula. 

Qualifications listed on the posting include a valid Michigan Administrator Certificate, a Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field, and a minimum of five years experience. It also says the board will offer “a regionally competitive comprehensive, multi-year contract with salary & benefits commensurate with experience.” 

The deadline for applications is Jan. 15, 2021.

Stockero said he’s already been receiving calls and email from people interested in the job and wanting to learn more about the area.