Board of Education



Mission Statement
 - With an exemplary staff and rigorous curriculum, our mission is to maximize the academic potential of every child.

Vision Statement - Marquette Area Public Schools, with the support of parents and community, will graduate students who are college and career ready and prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.

Adopted January 28, 2013 by the Board of Education

The School Trustees are trustees primarily charged with the vision, budget, goals and policy for all children in the district. Any operational or staffing issues should be first addressed with the building principal, then to the Superintendent. If you wish to email an issue to the board, please direct your inquiry to [email protected].


Marquette Area Public School Board Members
Pictured L to R:  Cherryl Maddox-Smith, Jennifer Klipp, James Hewitt, Kristen Cambensy, Glenn Sarka, Jennifer Ray and Jason Zdunek

MARQUETTE AREA PUBLIC SCOOLS
 THANKS SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS FOR THEIR SERVICE
JANUARY IS ANNUAL RECOGNITION MONTH

Marquette Area Public Schools is joining 537 local and 56 intermediate school districts across Michigan to celebrate January as School Board Recognition Month.

In another year full of challenges for public education, our school board members persevered through  adversity to provide the best possible education for our students. Celebrating School Board Recognition Month is one of the very small ways to express appreciation for all they do.

The individuals serving MAPS and their years of service are:

Kristen Cambensy, President, serving since 2015
Glenn Sarka, Vice-President, serving since 2019

James Hewitt, Secretary/Treasurer, serving since 2015

Jennifer Klipp, Trustee, serving since 2021

              Jennifer Ray, Trustee, serving since 2021
             Cherryl Maddox, Smith, Trustee, serving since 2023
              Jason Zdunek, Trustee, serving since 2023


     Marquette Area Public Schools would also like to thank former President James Randall for serving from 2017-2022, and former Vice-President Dr. Brian Cherry for serving 2011 to 2014 and again from 2017-2022.

     School board members represent the views and priorities of their community in the complex system of maintaining and running a district’s public schools. They also reinforce the principle of local control over public education, which is an important, highly valued aspect of education in Michigan. Too often, the efforts of school board members go unrecognized.

The school board’s main goal is to support student achievement. To achieve that goal, the board focuses on the following needs:

Creating a vision for what parents and citizens want their school district to become and how to make student achievement the top priority.

Setting standards for what students must learn and be able to do.

Assessing whether schools achieve their goals and whether students are learning.

Accounting for the outcomes of decisions and by tracking progress and reporting results.

Aligning the use of the district’s human and financial resources.

Creating a safe and orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach.

Collaborating to solve common problems and to support common successes.

Focusing on continuous improvement by questioning, examining, revising, refining and revisiting issues related to student achievement.

No matter what challenges lie ahead for our district in 2023, our school board members will continue to govern to improve student achievement and provide exceptional education for all our community’s children.

BoE Members

Kristen Cambensy (12/24)
BoE President
Glenn Sarka (12/24)
BoE Vice-President
James Hewitt (12/24)
BoE Secretary-Treasurer
Jennifer Klipp (12/26)
BoE Trustee
Jennifer Ray (12/26)
BoE Trustee
Cherryl Maddox-Smith (12/28)
BoE Trustee
Jason Zdunek (12/28)
BoE Trustee