Karabetsos making a second run
at Grosse Pointe school board

GrossePointeToday.com starts a series of profiles of various candidates for contested offices in the November election. Today: Grosse Pointe Board of Education contender Diane Karabetsos, left. She answered questions via email.

This is your second try for a board seat. What's different this time?

Although I'm not running against an incumbent, my platform remains the same. I continue to advocate against open enrollment from outside the district and for residency checks. I want to bring back the board discussion meetings and dialogue with the community. All the candidates agree on fighting School of Choice. But no one else is talking about a plan of action if Senate Bill 624 is forced on he schools. We still have issues about local residency. (This year a report has not been generated.)

Some board members still denigrate other board members for asking questions both at meetings and on the internet. We still don't have a discussion meeting. There are deeper issues like the coming contracts next year, school bond repayments, evaluation of the whole technology program and early development issues that the local media is not covering.

You also applied for the opening on the Grosse Pointe Woods City Council early this year. If you don't win this seat on the board, are you thinking of another opportunity in local government?

At the urging of friends, I put my name in for Grosse Pointe Woods City Council. I encourage more people to get involved in running our community. We have very talented residents in all the Grosse Pointes and they shouldn't be afraid to volunteer. I have no aspirations for other offices than a school board trustee.

To whatever extent it's true, there's a perception there's a 4-3 split on the board. What's your take on it?

Most decisions on the board have not been a 4-3 split. The recent hiring of Dr. Harwood with a 4-3 split should not have been contentious. Dr. Klein was hired on a 4-3 split and she's been our superintendent for 14 years. It is up to elected officials to give their opinions and it's their responsibility to support the final decision of the majority vote.

You're semiretired, with grown children. What activities interest you at this stage of your life?

I have always been an active volunteer in the schools and community. My focus the past 12 years has been improving outside activities for children with special needs. I founded GPSA's TOPS, the outreach soccer program for children with special needs, and am its director and coach. Because I recognized the need for socialization and early intervention for those on the autism spectrum, three years ago I lowered the minimum age in TOPS to 3 1/2 years old.

Complete the sentence: One thing hardly anyone knows about me is...

One thing hardly anyone knows about me is that I also coached basketball and swimming to special needs children. Eventually several of the parents got involved and took the children to Special Olympics when they were old enough to join that program. It is a lot of fun to volunteer and the teenagers from our community have also benefited. Every child has a mentor/buddy to help them at every session. We also use mentors from Wayne State U. who use community service hours for requirements for the education department. 

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