Unionville-Sebewaing Area Schools got their leadership structure sorted out for 2026 at this month’s organizational meeting. Board of Education members voted on officers, confirmed meeting schedules, and divvied up committee assignments that’ll keep everyone busy through the rest of the school year.
Mark Zimmer takes over as board president for another term. He’s been around the board long enough that people know what to expect from his leadership style. Sandra Gettel landed the vice president spot, which puts her next in line if Zimmer can’t make a meeting or needs to step aside for any reason.
Justin Nitz got treasurer duties, meaning he’ll be neck-deep in budgets, expenditure reports, and financial decisions. Kurt Ewald becomes secretary, which sounds simple but involves keeping accurate meeting minutes and handling official board correspondence. Neither role is glamorous but both are essential to school boards functioning properly.
The board locked in their regular meeting schedule – second Monday of every month at 7pm. Location is the middle school-high school media center at 2203 Wildner Road in Sebewaing. Consistent meeting times and locations help community members who want to attend without having to hunt down when and where meetings happen.
Committee assignments got handed out based on who’s interested in what and where the board needs coverage. These committees do the detailed work between full board meetings so the board doesn’t spend hours debating every minor decision during regular sessions.
Zimmer’s serving on buildings and grounds, contract negotiations, and finance committees. That’s a heavy load covering facility maintenance, employee contracts, and budget management. Buildings and grounds committees in school districts handle everything from roof repairs to playground equipment to HVAC systems that always seem to break at the worst times.
Gettel spread herself across athletics, contract, policy, and teaching/learning/curriculum committees. The curriculum committee is where educational direction gets discussed – what programs to offer, how to improve student outcomes, whether new initiatives are worth implementing. Michigan school boards rely on these committees to shape educational policy at the district level.
Ewald matches Zimmer’s assignments with buildings and grounds, contract, and finance. Having multiple board members on critical committees like finance means you get different perspectives and nobody’s making unilateral decisions about taxpayer money.
Nitz landed on finance, policy, and teaching/learning/curriculum. Finance keeps showing up because school budgets are complicated beasts requiring constant attention. Property tax revenue, state funding, federal grants, enrollment projections – all factors that finance committee members track obsessively.
Bryan Dyer takes athletics, buildings and grounds, plus transportation. Transportation committees deal with bus routes, driver issues, vehicle maintenance, and the endless complaints about pickup times. Not glamorous work but critical when you’re responsible for getting thousands of kids to school safely every day.
Kirk Payne got athletics and transportation. Lighter committee load but those two areas generate plenty of work. Athletics committees handle sports program budgets, coaching hires, facility scheduling, and parent complaints about playing time. Always something happening in high school sports.
Katie Vader rounds things out on policy, transportation, and teaching/learning/curriculum. Policy committees review and update district policies regularly to stay compliant with state regulations and respond to changing circumstances. Every school district maintains thick policy manuals that need constant updating.
The committee structure distributes workload so individual board members aren’t overwhelmed while ensuring each committee has enough members for quorum and diverse input. Smart boards recognize that spreading responsibilities prevents burnout and brings more viewpoints to decision-making.
USA Schools serves students from Unionville, Sebewaing, and surrounding Huron County areas. It’s one of those consolidated districts formed when small communities realized they couldn’t sustain separate school systems. The consolidation creates stronger programs and more opportunities than individual villages could provide alone.
Organizational meetings happen annually, usually at the start of the calendar year after any new board members take office following November elections. It’s housekeeping business – elect officers, set schedules, assign committees, establish meeting protocols. Get it done early so the board can focus on actual school business the rest of the year.
The Michigan Association of School Boards provides training and resources helping board members understand their roles and responsibilities. New officers like Zimmer probably attended workshops on effective board leadership, legal obligations, and best practices in school governance.
Monthly meetings at 7pm work for most people. Early enough that working parents can attend after dinner, late enough that board members can get home from their day jobs and grab a bite. Finding meeting times that accommodate everyone is impossible, but 7pm Monday evenings hits a reasonable middle ground.
The media center location at the middle school-high school provides space for board members, administrators, staff who need to present reports, and any community members wanting to observe. School boards operate under open meetings laws requiring public access, though USA Schools meetings probably don’t draw huge crowds unless controversial topics are scheduled.
Committee work happens between those monthly meetings. Members gather separately to dig into their assigned areas, make recommendations, prepare reports for the full board. That’s where detailed discussions happen about specific initiatives or problems requiring attention. The full board then votes on committee recommendations during regular meetings.
Budget season will keep the finance committee especially busy over the next few months. Districts typically finalize budgets for the following school year by June, which means months of projections, department requests, revenue estimates, and tough decisions about what gets funded and what gets cut.
Buildings and grounds will never run out of work. School facilities constantly need maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. Something’s always broken or wearing out or not meeting current codes. Committee members walk that line between maintaining safe functional buildings and spending taxpayer money wisely.
The teaching, learning and curriculum committee shapes what happens in classrooms. They review test scores, discuss teaching methods, consider new programs, evaluate curriculum effectiveness. That committee probably generates more long-term impact on student outcomes than any other board function.
Contract negotiations committee will be busy whenever union contracts come up for renewal. Teacher contracts, support staff agreements, administrator employment terms – all require negotiation between the district and employee groups. It’s delicate work requiring patience and diplomatic skills.
Mark Zimmer, Sandra Gettel, and the rest of the USA Schools board have their work cut out for them in 2026. Committees assigned, meeting schedule set, now comes the actual work of governing a school district through another year of challenges and opportunities.
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