Schools

Two of three St. Joseph County high schools came up short over the weekend in their bids to advance to the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s football playoffs. The Constantine Falcons were the only team to survive and advance to the final four in Division 6. The Falcons on Friday topped previously unbeaten Hillsdale, 49-35. Constantine will battle Monroe St. …

A few meetings in the area are on deck this evening. Members of the Constantine Public Schools Board of Education plan to assemble at 6 p.m. One matter of potential discussion may come from last week’s defeat of a Headlee renewal. The setback is keeping the district from more than $100,000 Elsewhere, 7 o’clock meetings are slated for the Lockport …

Glen Oaks Community College will see a trio of new faces on its board, following Tuesday’s vote in the general election. Joni Smith and John Bippus claimed the two, six-year seats to the board. Bud Malinoski came up short in the three-person race. Meanwhile, two candidates were unopposed for a pair of four-year terms. Newcomer Mary Lou Falkenstein will join …

A few incumbents on local, township, village and school boards were defeated in Tuesday’s general election. In Colon, challenger Tom Tenney soundly defeated incumbent village president Tom Whitford. Also, Colon Board of Education member and incumbent Eric Wagner was the odd person out in a three-person race for two seats. Incumbent Eric Bower will return and be joined by newcomer …

School districts that acted on Headlee-related proposals batted .500 in Tuesday’s election. Voters in the Burr Oak Community Schools district agreed to continue a Headlee rollback that allows the district to collect the full 18 mills its voters levied in 1995. The district stood to lose $154,000 without voter support. In Constantine, a request to renew its Headlee rate of …

A trio of area high school football teams will move on to the second week of the playoffs after posting wins over the weekend. Three Rivers will hit the road to play Williamston after the Wildcats upset Battle Creek Pennfield Friday night, 20-14. Meanwhile, Constantine also gained a road win Friday, beating Watervliet, 48-33. The Falcons will face a stiff …

White Pigeon Community Schools had four of its 14 buses red-tagged during annual inspections earlier this week. Superintendent Ron Drzewicki (joo-VICK-ee) told board of education members Wednesday the violations were on three of the district’s four oldest buses, which are 14, 15 and 17 years old. Drzewicki said Michigan State Police inspectors indicated the violations were minor and would not …

A projected decrease in student enrollment wasn’t as severe as White Pigeon Community Schools officials had expected. Members of the district’s board of education on Wednesday noted the district lost fewer than the 17 students for which it had budgeted. That and an increase of nine students overall from a year ago translates into about $120,000 for the district, Superintendent …

White Pigeon Community Schools’ Board of Education member Christie West was awarded Level One Certification by the Michigan Association of School Boards earlier this month. Level one certification is earned by completing nine Certified Board Member Award classes ranging from school finance and school budget to labor relations and board governance. The nine classes cover a wide range of school …

Three-quarters of a $400,000 donation presented last week to the city of Three Rivers has been designated to a newly created capital-improvement fund. During Tuesday’s city commission meeting, Mayor Tom Lowry and commissioners agreed to place $300,000 into the capital-improvement fund the city created as a result of the financial windfall. Though a specific use for the money has not …