Haslett Board holds first-round superintendent interviews; candidates outline literacy, facilities and equity plans

The Haslett Board of Education conducted first-round interviews on May 13 as part of its search for a new superintendent, hearing 50-minute, standardized interviews from two finalists and outlining next steps for second- and final-round meetings.

Mark Palmer, a facilitator from the Michigan Association of School Boards, explained the process and how the board will collect feedback and narrow candidates in subsequent rounds.

John Denny, introduced as a sitting superintendent in another district, framed his candidacy around long-term, hands-on experience. He described a multi-year early-literacy strategy that added a Young Fives readiness class and expanded intervention supports. “By the time they hit third grade they were at reading level,” Denny said, summarizing the program’s results and arguing it offered better long-term cost-effectiveness than the district’s prior staffing model.

Denny also outlined practical communication routines: weekly written briefings to trustees, visible attendance at community events and outreach to staff and retirees to build trust. On fiscal matters, he described working closely with a business manager to prepare multi-year projections, and recounted navigating a past budget shortfall that required staffing reductions followed by later stabilization.

Dr. Lori Haven, a district superintendent with central-office and building-level experience, emphasized instructional change and adult learning. She described a three-year initiative with the Future of Learning Council to implement “authentic learning” and transfer tasks across K–12 classrooms, and said the district required structured teacher supports and visible benchmarks to sustain the work. “We wanted to support our staff and really give them the autonomy within their content areas to do something different,” Haven said.

Haven also described using a facilities audit and broad stakeholder input to redesign grade-level placement — creating an Early Childhood Center, an upper elementary (grades 3–6) and reorganizing the secondary campus to use space more efficiently — and cited a successful bond campaign that funded a livestock barn and other instructional and athletic improvements.

Board members discussed strengths and remaining questions for both candidates. Several trustees praised Denny’s direct, hands-on style and the Young Fives literacy results but asked for more detail on how his experience would translate to Haslett’s larger administrative structure and for fuller examples of work with diverse student populations. Trustees commended Haven’s detailed examples on equity work, instructional change and the realignment process but requested clearer explanations of her personal role in some prior initiatives and earlier teacher engagement during large changes.

The board closed the meeting by asking the MASB facilitator to prepare follow-up questions for second-round interviews and confirmed a continuation meeting the next evening at 6 p.m. and a final interview round scheduled for May 28 at 6 p.m.

The board took no hiring action tonight; it will use written feedback forms and second-round interviews to narrow finalists and plan possible candidate presentations in the coming week.