The Niles Community Schools Board of Education is searching for a new member after longtime trustee Michael Dreher submitted his letter of resignation to Supt. Richard Weigel.

Dreher has served on the board for about 10 years.

The announcement came quietly and with no dramatic exit. But in discussing his departure from the board, Dreher openly spoke about his perspective on where the district is headed, where it could be improved and the uphill battle that faces those officials still in the fight.

“You know, it’s just two reasons, really,” Dreher said Tuesday about his resignation. “One, it’s just time for me to go.”

The second reason, he said, goes back to a decision made by the board to borrow $2 million in federal dollars through the U.S. Department of Education to help fund a number of district projects, including the development of the Niles New Tech Entrepreneurial Academy, a districtwide lighting conversion and the new Eastside Connections School.

“I kind of disagree with the borrowing of $2 million,” Dreher said.

Though he questioned the motion during the board meeting in June, Dreher still voted with the board in a unanimous decision to pursue the loan.

“I would have been out-voted by it,” he said. “So the best thing for them to do is get their group together and just do their thing.”

Board president Jeff Curry, who strongly supported the board’s decision to support the loan, said he could understand where Dreher was coming from even if he didn’t necessarily agree with him.

“I know that he and several others were really instrumental in trying to improve the schools through a couple of bond issues that really would have been terrific for the students,” Curry said.

Those bond issues did not pass.

The district has unveiled a slew of new projects and educational opportunities to combat the unyielding challenge of state cuts in funding and losses in student population.

This year the district will offer all-day kindergarten; open Eastside and Niles New Tech; provide online and alternative learning opportunities; and begin a focus on project-based learning.

All are in an effort to keep students in the Niles district and bring students back.

While the district borrowed $2 million in federal funds, it also voted on a budget that left it with virtually no fund equity or savings in order to make up for a staggering $3 million deficit.

Whether or not it’s the perfect scenario, Curry said, “It’s the hand we’ve been dealt. It’s not, maybe, the perfect way, but we think it’s the right way to move forward for the kids.”

Curry added he’s extremely positive about all of the developments that have taken place within the district.

One of the biggest challenges Niles now faces is a stream of students being lost to other districts. It’s a problem, Dreher said, that’s been going on for years.

One thing he and Curry do seem to agree on is the effort Weigel, in his first year as superintendent, has made to change that.

“This is no fault of Richard’s,” Dreher said, later adding that he tips his hat to the current superintendent. “But there are 400-some kids a year who leave Niles and go to other districts and we have to get those kids back … They didn’t leave to go to a New Tech School. They left because they weren’t getting a product out of Niles that they weren’t offering. That’s been going on for a long time.

“I saw this trend of people leaving our district but it kind of fell on deaf ears with our previous superintendent,” Dreher continued. “I just don’t believe in that. When somebody is leaving us, they’re an unhappy customer.”

Curry too, acknowledged the loss of students to neighboring districts.

“Students that we might be losing to Edwardsburg, primarily Edwardsburg because you know, they’ll send buses into your district to get kids and that’s disappointing,” Curry said. “Obviously, every time we lose a student, we lose the money that comes with the student and like any business, that’s not good.”

But he added the superintendent’s hope is to show positive results for all of the new implementations taking place this year.

When broken down, much of the $2 million is going toward those projects, but Dreher said even those initiatives miss the point.

“I just think borrowing $2 million until you fix your problems internally, that’s just money waste,” he said.

Dreher suggested fixing those internal problem by teaching “to the top.”

“Our best and brightest are leaving the district and we have to get those kids back,” he said.

Dreher said the district needs to teach to those top tier students so others will follow their way.

Asked how he’s seen the district change in the years he’s served on the board, Dreher’s perspective is, it hasn’t.

“That’s probably the problem,” he said. “There just hasn’t been any change. We’ve just floated along for the last nine or 10 years.”

Dreher added he hopes New Tech and some of the other projects going on in the district will change that trend.

Discord on any level is not often seen when it comes to the district’s board of education, something Dreher credits to discussions behind the scenes and outside of official meetings.

“I come from a business environment and opposition sometimes is good,” Dreher said. “And sometimes what we’ve done in the past is just kind of talk about it ahead of time and if you agree or disagree … when you vote for it, you vote to support the board and the superintendent,” despite whether one personally agrees or disagrees with the decision. Something that is done on any board, Dreher believes.

There could be more debate, he said, although those discussions should be done behind closed doors.

“You don’t want to bring that out,” Dreher said.

Curry, quoting the Michigan Association of School Board’s handbook said: “effective board service means being able to hold the minority viewpoint on a given issue then openly supporting the board …”

“It’s healthy to debate and have discussions and questions in private and then come to the meeting publicly and agree to disagree,” he said.

To debate publicly, Curry speculated, could become “counterproductive and set a negative tone. It’s very awkward to do that sometimes in public.”

He clarified no meetings that would qualify as a quorum were taking place behind closed doors.

“It’s healthier for the community and the students if we support something publicly than debate it publicly,” Curry said.

And ultimately, he added, it comes down to what’s best for kids.

Discussion should be had, Dreher said, in some form, especially when it comes to how to handle the challenges that await the district in the future.

“Are there good things in our school districts? Yes, I’m not going to say there’s anything bad going on,” Dreher said. “But there are districts around us who are doing better … I personally think, and this is my personal opinion, that if they don’t teach to the top, those kids won’t come back. But I hope I’m wrong.”

Weigel announced the district would be taking applications for an appointed replacement to serve on the board for the remainder of Dreher’s term, which concludes in June 2012.