Sheets declares intent to run for Board of Education seat
MIDLAND, Mich. — Jimmy Sheets, the owner of High Definition Detailing in Midland, is vying for a position on the Midland Public Schools Board of Education.
At the Dec. 20 board meeting, Mr. Sheets was one of 10 speakers who signed up for public comment, and was among M.P.S. parents who repeatedly came to board meetings to protest the board’s recent mask policy change for K-6 students, as well as issues pertaining to vaccines and quarantine policy. The mask order was lifted as of Monday, Dec. 13.
“I’ve started kind of digging into more on what you guys do in the last couple months, and kind of understanding what your responsibilities are, and listening to parents,” Mr. Sheets told the board during public comment. “I don’t understand it, from your perspective, because I’m not a part of it, so what I’ve decided to do is I’m gonna go ahead and take one of these positions here come November, so that way I can be on that side of the fence, because obviously there’s something that goes on in that backside that I don’t understand.”
Mr. Sheets touted his experience as a business owner. likening customer complaints to parents communicating with M.P.S. board members. He complained that fellow parents have asked the board to address certain issues without getting a response for months.
“When a customer complains, I need to understand why they are doing that and address it. I don’t hear that being done here,” Mr. Sheets said.
Will Zablocki, administrator of the Facebook group “RISE UP MIDLAND,” also announced his run for school board for 2022, in light of the mask order.
“I don’t know, really, whose seat I’m gonna be taking, but I’ll take whichever one I want, I’d like whichever one I can get my hands on,” Mr. Sheets said.
In April 2020, Mr. Sheets was charged with violating a temporary COVID-19 executive order Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put in place, which required non-essential businesses to close. His business, High Definition Detailing, was seen as a non-essential business. The case was dismissed after the Michigan Supreme Court curtailed some of Ms. Whitmer’s emergency powers.
At the Dec. 20 meeting, the board approved the nomination of vice president Phillip Rausch for election to the board of directors at the Michigan Association of School Boards, a non-profit organization comprised of more than 600 member school boards from across the state. In 2022, five seats on the MASB board of directors will be up for election.
Board president Scott McFarland briefly addressed the Oxford shooting at the beginning of the meeting, saying that “life has a way of reminding us of our priorities” when such tragic events happen. Following his remarks, there was a brief moment of silence in honor of the Oxford victims and their families.
“How can we begin to understand the pain that community and district are in? The answer is, we can’t. We just can’t,” McFarland said. “We can pray. We can pray that they find peace and that they get to heal this holiday season. We can pray that the piece of the shattered puzzle somehow get put back together.”
Scott McFarland is a donor for the City Paper. Jimmy Sheets’ business, High Definition Detailing, was previously a Community Partner with the City Paper. Please read our Editorial Independence policy to see how our sponsors, donors, and advertisers never influence our journalism.
Michael Piwowarski covers education, including higher ed and Midland Public Schools, for the City Paper.