Leadership changes on RC school board after Pommerenke resigns

by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor

Rogers City Area Schools board of education president Devin Pommerenke announced Monday that he would be stepping down from his duties in the district.

Pommerenke, who served two years as president, cited personal reasons for what he called a tough decision. 

The board accepted the resignation and appointed the Rev. Dr. Greg Zurakowski as its new president. 

“I promise you that all is OK, and anything that may not seem to be OK, will be,” said Pommerenke. “This may shock some people; however, I have great confidence in all of you and the foundation that we have laid together for how this district will move forward.”

Pommerenke said that with the changes in education, “I think the vision going forward is best for somebody who has a calling to that.”

He also noted that two of the board seats that need to be filled during the next election have no candidates on the November ballot.

“Sometimes progress, sometimes success can be met with jealousy and sometimes people with type A personalities can deter other people from stepping forward,” he said. “I hope that this community realizes that this is not just about the people in this room, it’s about everybody. I would hope that in my absence that good people will step forward.”

Pommerenke then highlighted the board members and administrators who he has worked with the last four years. 

“What we did as a team over the last four years was important,” stated Pommerenke in a text after the meeting.

The 2011 Rogers City High School graduate became board president in January 2019 at the age of 25. He wanted to serve on the board, he said at Monday’s meeting, “because I did not like the way things were being done.”

Before and after becoming president, Pommerenke butted heads with then superintendent David O’Bryant, who eventually took a similar position in Farwell, but resigned after being convicted of larceny by conversion from the Rogers City youth football program. 

Pommerenke had a final message for the community about current superintendent Nick Hein, who he said helped him get his life on track by telling him to go back to college. 

“I ask that we treat him well,” said Pommerenke, voice slightly raised. “I ask that we don’t take him for granted because when he got here, mediocrity was our thing and that is one of the most toxic words in the dictionary.

“I warn that if we have not learned from history, we are doomed to repeat it. If we take this one for granted, it will be another 16 and 17 years, or however long after.”

Pommerenke is hopeful that people have their eye on what is most important. “Not only when they make decisions in this room, but when they make them at their dinner table, when they make them before they hit send or post, or before they pick up the phone and start a brushfire for their own satisfaction. They should think about what we do here and why we do it. That is to protect and promote the education of children and nothing else.”

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