As leaders at Benton Harbor Area Schools grapple with difficult financial decisions, another matter that needs to be resolved is the question of who’s in charge. Right now, it’s still CEO Robert Herrera under the cooperative agreement. However, with that likely to change July 1, Board of Education President Steven Mitchell read a request from the board to Herrera at Thursday’s meeting:
“The board would like you to announce your intention to transfer all of your CEO powers back to the board, and have a press conference to show the immediate transfer of power to the board by March 8,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said it’s nothing personal, but he thinks Herrera should cede authority and revert back to being a traditional superintendent so there can be unity. Herrera told WSJM News he has not received information from the state indicating there would be opposition to such a move.
“I’ll be more than happy to sit down with the legal counsel of the board and put together a transition plan for the return of those authorities,” Herrera said.
Herrera said the March 8 deadline requested by Mitchell probably won’t happen, but he considers a return of local control inevitable. He said he wants to finish up some business while working out a transition plan with the board.
