Flint, MI—The family and friends of Flint’s newly elected school board members filled the auditorium of the Accelerated Learning Academy on Dec. 6, 2022.
That night, the winning candidates of Flint Community Schools (FCS) Board’s recent election—Michael Clack, Terae King Jr., Claudia Perkins and Melody Relerford—were sworn into office by Judge Tabitha Marsh of the 67th District Court of Genesee County.
Dylan Luna, also a winning candidate, was unavailable and will be sworn in at a later date.
“I was glad about the process tonight,” said FCS Superintendent Kevelin Jones, who noted this was the first time since he became superintendent that the Board had held such a formal ceremony for new members.
Clack’s elected term runs until Dec. 31, 2024 and King’s runs through Dec. 31, 2026.
Relerford is first filling a vacant Board seat through an appointment by the Genesee Intermediate School District Board of Education, with a term ending on Dec. 31, 2022. She will then begin her elected term, which runs from Jan. 1, 2023 until Dec. 31, 2028, alongside Perkins and Luna.
Relerford, Clack, King, and Luna originally ran as a slate of five alongside Emily Doerr in the November 2022 election.
While Doerr did not win a seat, all five positions on the Nov. 8 ballot were won by new faces, with no Board incumbents holding on to their seats.
Clack, King, Luna, Relerford and Perkins join current Board members Joyce Ellis-McNeal and Laura MacIntyre. The new Board will vote on its officers—president, vice president, secretary and treasurer—at its meeting on Jan. 11, 2023.