George Kortlandt Recognized for 16 Years on School Board

George Kortlandt has spent 16 years serving the Board of Education—an accomplishment that was recognized by the Oakland County School Boards Association on Thursday.

Marc Katz, an Oakland School Boards Association trustee, presented Kortlandt with an award at the Novi Board of Education meeting. The association honors board members when they celebrate 12 years of service and every four years after that.

“It’s indeed an honor and a pleasure and a joy to work with you folks and for the community,” Kortlandt said at the meeting.

He also thanked his wife, Pat, for her support through the years.

“Every one of you know what it’s like to deal with your spouse when you come home from these meetings all wired—maybe it’s the coffee I drink—but excited about things and want to talk about it, and sometimes it’s late and your spouse would rather do anything but think about school business right then,“ he said.

He also thanked the community for allowing him to serve.

Katz estimates that Kortlandt has attended more than 400 board meetings and has read approximately 832 board information packets.

“Just a tremendous, tremendous dedication, a tremendous responsibility back to the youth in the community and really doing something that’s better for all of the children,” Katz said.

President Bruce Bagdady also thanked Kortlandt for his dedication, not only by attending meetings, but also by representing the district at school events.

“I don’t know that anyone comes close to you in terms of the number of events you are able to attend and be out and be the eyes and ears of the board on those occasions, so again thank you so much for the many years, and many to come,” Bagdady said.

The Board of Education also completed several organization tasks at its meeting Thursday.