Balas Draws Standing Ovation

Two retiring Ann Arbor school board members and the retiring business manager were presented with certificates of service last night near the close :Of the Board of Education meeting. A resolution of appreciation for the services of Ronald R. Edmonds, former Human Relations Director for the public schools, also was read. Edmonds resigned this month to take a position with the State Department of Education. Business Manager George Balas, who retires Tuesday after 25 years with the Ann Arbor Public Schools, was given a standing ovation by the board members and the audience. School Supt. W. Scott Westerman Jr. praised Balas for his "unique" services to the school district. "He has not only been dedicated but skillful and competent in the most excellent sense. We will miss him very much," Westerman said. Trustees Joseph T. A. Lee and Paul H. Johnson, who were attending their last board meeting, were presented with tificates thanking them íor their public service. Both of their terms expire Tuesday. Neither ran for re-election. School Board President Harold J. Lockett thanked both trustees for serving the board and community "with their own distinctive styles," and said both were often "mavericks" in the good sense of the word. Johnson, a conservative member of the board who was more often at logger heads with the administration and fellow board members than not, called his three years as a school trustee "an enlightening, though not always pleasánt, experience." "It has been an excellent three years," he said. "I may have been erroneous, but I have been sincere." Johnson, speaking to his colleagues, said he may not have always agreed with thera, "but I respected you as individuals." Lee said he leaves the board "with a sense of e n v y" because he will no longer be participating in the changing events of the school system. His goal during his tenure was always "education comes first," he said. "I tried my best during these three years." Lee lauded Westerman for his performance as superintendent of schools, and said "if I had run again, it would have been to learn something more from Dr. Westerman." Trustees-elect Paul D. Carrington and Robert Conn, and present Trustee Charles H. Good, will be sworn in at next Wednesday's meeting.