By Sterling McGinn
Mold inside the historic former Newberry High School building has reached such a problematic level that it is likely to be demolished, according to the Tahquamenon Area Schools Board of Education.
The board held a special meeting on Monday, October 26, with a short but important agenda.
The former high school building has been shuttered for more than a year now, and major water damage has allowed extensive mold to develop.
District Superintendent Shawn Tebo said the mold is so bad that people should not go into the building, though the basement still holds important school records that may be salvageable.
“My understanding when I came on the board … was it [old high school] was going to be ‘mothballed’ and then it was going to be up to the next administration to figure that out,” said Trustee Colleen Duflo. “So here we are.”
Trustee Jeff Puckett is in favor of tearing the building down.
“The money that would take to repurpose that, no one’s going to pay that,” he said. “You’ll never get the money back.”
Demolishing the building will have a hefty price tag as well, and Tebo said it may be possible to use state funds from the 23E grants for the project. Information about the 23E funds is expected by November 1.
In the meantime, Tebo says she will look into getting the records tested for mold so that they can be digitized.
No decision on the future of the building was made at the meeting.
During the special meeting, the board voted board voted to hire Kenn Depew as the new district Athletic Director (AD). This move stems from the recent resignation of former Athletic Director Dan Hardenbrook.
Depew, a Newberry High School alumnus, was Newberry’s AD for several years before transitioning to teaching. He currently teaches leadership, middle school science, and chemistry at TAS.
Discussion about hiring Depew for the role began at the board’s regular meeting a week prior. The board tabled the matter, concerned that Depew’s chemistry class, with 24 students, would have to be taught online in his absence.
A lengthy discussion took place that night.
“I said it once, I’ll say it again, I believe that Kenn would make an awesome AD, but chemistry is not something that I think should go online,” said Trustee Amanda Kitzman.
Chemistry was assigned to Depew on short notice for the 2026-2027 school year. Although he has a background in nuclear engineering with the U.S. Navy, and he is pursuing emergency certification through Teachers of Tomorrow, he is not a certified high school chemistry teacher. He reported spending two hours every night prepping lessons for chemistry, on top of teaching middle school science and leadership classes.
The board unanimously agreed that Depew is well qualified to teach chemistry and hold the position of AD.
The board discussed online learning, where students perform at their own pace, versus Synchronous Online Instruction which would have a live teacher on the screen. The latter costs $550 per student per semester. For 24 enrolled students in the remaining marking periods, prorated for the portion of the semester that has been completed, the cost would be up to $18,000 total.
“I do see your concerns about having a person in front of the students, but this is the reality of – especially Upper Peninsula – rural schools. We cannot get the teachers that are highly qualified to be here or to stay here,” said Superintendent Shawn Tebo. “And a lot of our staff, not half of them, but there’s quite a few staff members that are on that Teachers of Tomorrow program to become teachers.”
Tebo said she supports Depew and is excited about hiring him.
“I think it’s going to turn us in the right direction and get rid of our black eye that we have in our athletics department,” she said.
The board voted to hire Depew as the AD and transition the chemistry students to online learning with Synchronous Online Instruction. Depew will still be in the classroom to monitor the class and help with labs.
The board will revisit this decision by the end of the semester.
Finally, the board discussed the district’s responsibility for insuring the contents of the TAS Public Library.
“This conversation started on Monday, March 9 at 9:29 a.m. when the superintendent emailed the library director,” said Greg Rathje, who serves on the library board. “That would be almost eight months ago. It says ‘Hello, I just got off the phone with your insurance provider, and they said the library has to have its own insurance policy.’ And this conversation’s been going on for eight months, and we’re nowhere. Ladies and gentlemen, you own the library.”
It was determined that since the library is owned by the school district, the district is responsible for insuring the contents of the library.
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