Bloomfield Hills Schools Selects Joan Berndt to Join Board of Trustees

The Bloomfield Hills Schools Board of Education on Thursday appointed Joan Berndt to fill the open seat on the seven-member panel through next year.

The life-long Bloomfield Township resident and member of several of the district's community partnership committees was sworn in during an informal ceremony before the regularly scheduled board meeting began.

The vote was unanimous to have Berndt replace Kate Pettersen, who resigned last month to prepare her family to move to Colorado. But that doesn't mean it was easy.

Thirteen people submitted a letter of interest to join the board and 10 completed the application process by the Nov. 10 deadline, officials said. The board asked five to interview earlier this week. Other finalists to interview were Howard Baron Jr., David Fink, John Roach and Scott Ziegler.

Because Pettersen resigned, state law dictates an appointment had to be made within 30 days. Berndt has the position through 2012, but will have to be re-elected next November to retain the remainder of Pettersen's six-year term.

Several board members on Thursday expressed the difficulty they had in whittling down the candidates and a few, including Board President Ingrid Day, said they could have selected either Berndt or Roach.

"John has been consistent," Day said. "He not only challenges us, or anyone no matter what the situatuion, and provides a real healthy dose of reality some times. But the board believes that Joan embodies the skills and qualities we need to move forward quickly without a steep learning curve."

Berndt is a fixture at school board meetings and is very active in the community. She is a member of the district's Community Partnership Committee, she's on the district Strategic Planning Committee, and is active with Preservation Bloomfield. She is retired following a long career teaching instrumental music in Birmingham, Rochester, and Ferndale. She also served as an adjunct professor for Oakland Community College as well as a lecturer at Oakland University. She earned both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Michigan.

She lives in the township with her husband, William, with whom she has a son, Ron, a 1984 graduate of Lahser High School.

Board Vice President Ed Ford said he believed Berndt offers the passion and enthusiasm for educating children and can help reach out to seniors in the community to help bolster their support for future initiatives, such as the proposed $65 million millage to combine Lahser and Andover high schools.

"She calls herself and 'old duck', which is endearing, but doesn't to her service because of her interest in the youth in our community," he said. "She represents very well a predominant section of the community, our seniors, who have always been supportive of the schools. We need someone to do an excellent job to communicate our goals."