Conley 'humbled' to be named Lincoln School principal

Lincoln Elementary School's principal will be a friendly face for those in the Ottawa Elementary School District.

The school board approved a one-year, $77,877 contract with former Shepherd Middle School Assistant Principal Melanie Conley during their Tuesday night meeting.

Conley has been serving as the school's interim principal for more than a month.

"Everybody was great," she said of her experiences thus far at the school. "It's a great group of people, so I'm very excited to be there. Being there even for a short time, I just fell in love with the building, the staff and the kids. So I'm just very excited, and humbled, to serve in that capacity."

Conley is a 14-year employee of the district and began as a sixth-grade teacher at Central Intermediate School. From there, she was promoted to the dean of students at the school, then to assistant principal at both Central Intermediate School and Shepherd Middle School, as well as Shepherd's athletic director.

She said she "struggled" in school growing up and her interest in becoming a teacher was to help others as she had been helped as a child.

Conley said she plans to meet with Lincoln Elementary School staff over the summer and get their perspective on how they view the school and what they hope to see done in the future.

Superintendent Cleve Threadgill said there wasn't much need for an in-depth search to find a replacement at the school.

"She's been an excellent administrator for Ottawa Elementary for a number of years," he said.

He also noted the board was impressed with her previous work heading up groups such as the crisis committee and the Feed My Starving Children program.

"She was passionate about being a leader in the building, she loves students, she's highly organized and she's headed up many committees for us," Threadgill said.

"We thought, considering what she's accomplished already for us, that she was worthy certainly for consideration," he added.

Conley was made interim principal after the district placed former principal Ryan Lemberg on paid leave in May. The school board then accepted a resignation letter and approved a separation agreement later that month. The leave was not be viewed as a criminal matter by the district and was "not related to any student or students' issues."

In other business

The board also approved:

• A revised snack list for the wellness policy. The district previously banned home-baked goods in the past in favor of factory-sealed products. Food Service Director Vicki McConnell told a Times reporter that there was some confusion over what was allowed, and a detailed list of items was created and sent to parents for the new school year.

• Placing paraprofessional Betty Moore on a four-day unpaid suspension. Moore already served the suspension, which occurred over the last four days of the school year, but required board approval afterward. Threadgill declined to comment on the suspension, noting it was a personnel matter.

• The Blue Cross/Blue Shield health renewal for the 2019-20 school year. Renewal for health is $2,507,154 and dental is $114,298.

• The retirement requests of Shepherd Middle School seventh-grade teacher Elizabeth Knottnerus, effective at the end of the 2022-23 school year; Shepherd Middle School paraprofessional Patricia Shute, effective at the end of the 2019-20 school year; Shepherd Middle School paraprofessional Mary Wiesbrock, effective at the end of the 2019-20 school year; and Central Intermediate School librarian paraprofessional Delia MacDougall, effective at the end of the 2019-20 school year.

• The resignations of Lincoln Elementary School crossing guard Sharayah Riley, Shepherd Middle School and Central Intermediate School crossing guard Ralph Deming and bus driver Glenn Pratt.

• The employment of Rachel Bressner as a part-time nurse at Shepherd Middle School; Brian Huebner as seventh- and eighth-grade girls track coach at Shepherd; Karlie Doermann as lifeskills paraprofessional at Central Intermediate School; Lauren Kozlowski as Central secretary; Kelsey Sheridan as an English Language Learners (ELL) teacher for the district; Lynne Sovero as a cross-categorical classroom paraprofessional at Jefferson Elementary School; Natalie Newbury as a receptionist at Lincoln Elementary School; and Susan Prettyman as a custodian for the district.