DISTRICT
Saline
WEBSITE
Voteafifacorrigan.com
Campaign Phone
(734)508-2636
Number of years as resident
30 years
I’m a former public school teacher, Saline native, and mom of three. I volunteer in classrooms, visit seniors with our therapy dog, and helped start an English program for immigrant women. My husband and I are Saline alums raising our family in the community we love. My teaching background means I understand schools from the inside and how decisions affect classrooms, teachers, and kids. I’d bring the skills good board service requires. I’m a careful listener and enjoy hearing others’ perspectives. I research issues deeply before forming opinions, and I work toward consensus even when I disagree. Whether it’s cell phone restrictions, preschool expansion, or AI policy, I’ll ask the hard questions and work to make sure families feel heard.
My goals center on three timely opportunities. First, student stress and mental health are serious concerns, and technology can be part of the picture. I want to help students find balance with screens and social media, and give them clear guidance on AI use. Second, I want to expand our preschool with play-based programs that attract new families and grow enrollment. Third, I want students to see many pathways to success, whether college or the trades.
I'll push for K-12 technology guidelines and review the early results of our phone policy. I will support thoughtful implementation of the preschool expansion, and explore more trades and dual-enrollment options. Good policy comes from doing the homework and hearing all sides.
In a high-performing district like Saline, it's easy to overlook kids falling behind in reading or math. District data should help us identify where achievement gaps are greatest, including among low-income students, students with disabilities, and English learners. The gaps can appear early, and while early-grade supports are strong, they often thin out by middle school. Every child's needs are different, so teachers need more support staff and resources to individualize lessons to each child. Our new strategic plan sets real targets for closing these gaps. I'm eager to help with implementation and follow-up. These students deserve the best support we can give them.
My first priority is investing in people. Teachers and staff need the right resources, and even as technology changes education, many teachers still want books and traditional materials. We should give them the best of both. We must also protect our fund balance. A healthy reserve gives the district stability when enrollment, state funding, or unexpected costs change. Next is preventive maintenance. Last year’s mold problem at the middle school showed how quickly a facility problem can disrupt learning. Planning ahead keeps our buildings open and safe. Finally, I'd invest in students who need extra support and in the programs that make Saline special, like the arts, music, and career and technical education.
Two major challenges are adapting responsibly to rapid technology changes and retaining great teachers. AI is already in our schools. We need clear policies that protect academic integrity and student data while preparing kids to think critically. Policy works best when the people it impacts help shape it. Teachers should be consulted, and students should have a voice in advising the board on technology policies. Listening is also key to staff retention. Part of what keeps a good teacher here is the culture of the school and knowing someone will listen when something isn't working. I'd push for honest, regular communication between teachers, administrators, and the board, including trusted and confidential ways for staff to raise concerns.
DISTRICT
Saline Area Schools
PHONE
7343553238
WEBSITE
christyforsaline.com
Campaign Phone
7343553238
Number of years as resident
13
My experience spans boardroom decisions and kitchen-table ones. I earned a degree in Organizational Behavior from The University of Michigan and spent 25 years in financial-services leadership at some of the nation’s largest banks, overseeing policy, risk, and annual budgets exceeding $100 million. At the same time, I know the district from many perspectives as a mom of six Saline students with very different identities, backgrounds, strengths, and learning needs, including IEPs and 504 plans. Beyond my own family, coaching, nonprofit service, and foster care have deepened my perspective. I would bring disciplined oversight, independent judgment, and a clear focus on all students to the Board.
Student achievement should be the North Star for every Board decision. My goals are grounded in three priorities: All Means All, so every student is challenged, supported, and able to succeed; Strategic Stewardship, so resources are planned responsibly for the long term and invested where they most directly support students; and Principled Leadership, so decisions are informed, transparent, collaborative, and guided by facts. I would pursue those goals by listening first, using data, asking hard questions, setting measurable outcomes, and changing course when the evidence warrants it.
All Means All means no student should disappear inside an average. Improving achievement requires asking who is growing, who is not, and why. We should look beyond districtwide averages and ensure the district and teachers have the tools, systems, staffing, time, and flexibility to respond to individual needs, whether a student needs intervention, enrichment, or a different approach. Data should help us identify needs early and measure whether our strategies are working. Success means strong fundamentals, meaningful growth, and appropriate challenge for every learner.
Strategic Stewardship means planning before problems grow, with foresight and accuracy. Foresight prepares for unexpected costs; accuracy helps use resources well for students. First, we should plan now for a successor agreement before the current teacher contract expires in December 2027, avoiding prolonged uncertainty like last year. Inflation, compensation trends, and projections should guide that work. Second, improve forecast accuracy. Significant variances should be explained publicly, and a large late-cycle positive variance should prompt scrutiny, not celebration, because it may represent a lost opportunity to invest in students. Stewardship means knowing what we have, planning ahead, and putting resources to work for students.
A strong board has to solve today’s problems while preparing for tomorrow’s. First, the SAS board should hold the superintendent accountable for retaining great teachers and staff by reviewing employee feedback, retention, and climate data and building a culture where great people want to stay. Second, the board must ensure the district prepares students for an AI-shaped future we cannot predict, with many paths to success. The board should set strategic direction that emphasizes not simply what students know, but how they think, solve problems, create, question, and use AI ethically to help others. Students should leave Saline ready to bring empathy, judgment, relationships, and purpose to the world, qualities technology can never replace.
DISTRICT
Saline
WEBSITE
www.andrearoeyourvote.com
Campaign Phone
989-780-1992
Number of years as resident
5
I was PTA president at Woodland Meadows Elementary from 2022 to 2024. My term was about getting the PTA back to full programming after the pandemic and making it stable, and our board did exactly that: $70,000 back into the school over two years.
Baker Street Properties is where I am during the week, as an owner and the CEO. Being in this role means hearing out owners, tenants, staff and contractors, whose interests don't always line up and finding the call that works for as many as it can.
A board doesn't teach a class or run a building. It sets the budget, the priorities and the policy. If those are clear, our incredible educators can do their best work. This is what I'm experienced at and it's why I'm running.
The board adopted a strong strategic plan in August. My goal is to make sure we can tell whether it's working. That means a short list of measures coming back to the board on a regular schedule, a name and a date on each piece of the plan, and a standing place on the agenda to say plainly what's behind and why. What I want is for a parent in this district to be able to find out whether something we promised actually happened without having to know someone in a leadership position to ask.
The strongest in-school factor in how much a student learns is the quality and consistency of the teaching they get, which means keeping great staff is a top priority. Instruction only reaches students who are present, and absenteeism has really changed since 2020. I'm encouraged by the Board's latest policy to address this absenteeism.
Saline invested in a new preschool building and opened several classrooms this year, which is exactly the right place to start. What I'd want is for us to still be measuring its effect when those students hit third grade and we look at reading proficiency.
Educators do their best work when the conditions let them, and two of those conditions are class size and student behavior. When the help is there in the room at the moment it's needed rather than after the fact, teachers can teach and morale holds. So I want the board looking at where the pressure is greatest and how we can better support our teachers when student needs exceed what one adult can meet in a full classroom.
Technology is now part of nearly every school day, and we've been slower to ask what it's actually doing for learning than we were to adopt it. I'm encouraged by the cell phone policy the board recently adopted. But there's more work to do on how well technology is serving our learners, especially our littlest ones. AI is arriving in classrooms and I'd rather Saline decide what we want from it than find out later what it did to us.
The superintendent presented a thorough strategic plan, adopted by the board in August, and it's well worth reading. The work now is implementation. What I want to understand is the timeline, who owns each piece, how progress comes back to the board, and what happens when something slips.
My education and career have given me a great deal of experience in a wide range of topics. I graduated from Eastern Michigan University and then went on to play in the MLB.
I am also on the Champions Advisory Board (CAB) for the EMU athletic department.
While I was in the minor leagues, I was a substitute teacher for 3 years. For my career as a professional baseball player, I worked extensively with the union and in CBA negotiations (collective bargaining). I was our direct player representative for almost a decade, so that knowledge and experience will only help foster future teacher and administrative relationships, as well as encourage successful negotiations with the common goal of helping our students thrive.
My main goal is to represent the interest of the students and staff that would best further the students' education and prepare them for their future. A large part of representing your community and school system is to listen to multiple and sometimes differing ideas and put actions in place that are beneficial to all. I would love for the board and district to have the best teamwork we have ever seen. If we all work together, with the common goal of student excellence, our community and district will thrive.
Our responsibility is to make sure every student leaves Saline prepared to succeed in whatever comes next. That requires high expectations and multiple types of opportunities for the students. Saline's new strategic plan takes a very important step in that direction by recognizing multiple pathways to graduation and success. For one student, that could mean acceptance into a highly competitive university. For another, that could mean entering a skilled trade, joining the military, or completing a technical ed program. All of which should be celebrated. We need to help students discover those opportunities as early as possible by connecting their interests and strengths with meaningful academic, career, and extracurricular experiences.
The number one focus should always be keeping money in the classroom to directly help student achievement. We should always be providing necessary upgrades and tools to create a more productive learning experience across the board. The budget should also help provide top tier resources and facilities for athletics and extracurricular activities. Given our seasonal changes, it would be highly beneficial to have an indoor facility that would allow for year round practices and competition. This would also be a benefit to the budget because it could be rented out when otherwise not in use by the district. Both of these will directly and positively help student enrollment as numbers have been dropping in recent years. Let's get those back up.
I don't believe the school board is currently facing any serious problems. In fact, I think the current board has demonstrated that people with different perspectives and different opinions can work together effectively when they remain focused on the students and district as a whole. Being an effective board member requires learning where the board's responsibilities begin and end, understanding district policies and finances, and recognizing that no individual board member has sole authority. We need to challenge ideas without attacking people, listen before reaching conclusions, and make decisions as a team. The board is seven people, one voice. The board is a team focused on doing what is best for Saline students.
WRITE-IN?
No
DISTRICT
Saline
PHONE
(517)490-6259
WEBSITE
www.spinaforschoolboard.com/
Campaign Phone
(517)490-6259
Number of years as resident
24
I have taught and coached in Saline for over two decades, and I think I am qualified because those years working with the students and parents here provides me with a deep and wide knowledge of the district. I also worked as union leader in Saline, so I have a lot of knowledge of the finances. I have been studying the district's budget and school funding for nearly twenty years. I know where the money comes from, where we’re spending it, and the trends. That will allow me to make an immediate impact with budgeting, one of the most important roles of the board.
Also, with my knowledge of the students, families, and staff, I will understand the impact of our decisions on the people that live, work, and attend school here.
My first goal is to understand diverse opinions, express disagreement without being divisive, and work well with the board to represent our entire community. I want to continue the steady and balanced leadership that currently exists.
I also want to ensure our spending prioritizes programming for students. We can’t become a district with a large administrative team and require teachers to lead core classes with 30 to 35 students and cut extracurriculars.
Finally, I want to strengthen the connection between the board and the needs of our support personnel, teachers, and building admin. Employee retention is a significant issue in schools, including Saline, and I want the board to better understand the root cause of the issue here.
Having taught in the building, I know what it is to teach a core class with 30 to 35 students. It is difficult to give every student everything they need in that situation, and we have to make maxed-out classes a thing of the past.
I also think it’s important to continue our work focusing on our at-risk students, which encompasses all kinds of kids. These are our most vulnerable students, and by using our current data systems to identify them and also creating courses to support them, we can bring up that group that sometimes slips through the cracks.
If you go back to the 2018–2019 school year, the district’s revenue has increased nearly 30% since then while enrollment has declined. I want to be sure that the students, in their classes and their extracurriculars, are seeing the benefit of that 30% increase. I also want to be sure our budget is prepared to absorb the next economic downturn, whenever that may come. That means having a healthy fund balance and being sure that staffing reflects the mission and matches the size of the organization.
I don’t see an existing crisis in Saline, and that allows us to focus on our greatest asset: our reputation as a high-quality district. We are known for excellent academics, quality extracurriculars, and great facilities. We should invest in the people and programs that make that reputation true. That means prioritizing spending close to students, managing class size, growing high-quality courses and programs, and making sure we have a long-term plan to maintain our facilities. Having worked in the school, I know we have our struggles, and we need to assess the needs of students, families, and staff, particularly those in vulnerable and at-risk communities.
