It all began during the coldest point in a record-breaking frigid winter, but it was the hottest story the local news had experienced in years.

The Niles Community School Board and the Superintendent of Schools were locked in private behind-closed-doors intrigue and no one could understand why.

For nearly six weeks, speculation, rumor and guessing were the only things people engaged in because we were all sick of talking about the depth of the snow and the below-zero temperatures. The intrigue kept us focused on something other than the pot holes created by the polar vortex.

As it turned out, thanks in part to the Niles Daily Star and the Freedom of Information Act, the citizens of Niles, parents and teachers discovered that the Niles Community School Board was conducting itself in the only legal and ethical manner under the circumstances. By keeping their heads down and heeding legal advice, our school board members can stand tall knowing that they did the right thing and hired the best replacement.

Putting all the sad details behind us, let’s look forward to the future under Dr. Michael Lindley, our new full-time interim superintendent. This new title is a bit oxymoronic because how can something that is interim be full-time? This means that Dr. Lindley will be working full-time for the Niles schools, but his term will expire at the end of the 2014-15 school year.

I can almost guarantee that we will hate to see Dr. Lindley leave in June of 2015. For 18 years, he served as a very popular and effective superintendent of New Buffalo schools. He was even elected by the voters of Berrien County to the Board of Trustees of Lake Michigan College. His credentials are impeccable and he is dedicating himself to steering our school system in a positive direction and that is the only item on his current agenda.

As a vice chair of the Niles Education Foundation, I have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Lindley and have spent some quality time with him. He understands the turmoil that the school system has experienced and he is determined to give his support to the students, faculty, staff and school board at this critical time.

So if you still feel a bit frigid by the past conduct of the school board members, my advice is “let it go.” The school board has plenty of time and opportunity to find and appoint a full-time permanent superintendent as capable and qualified as Dr. Michael Lindley. I am sure the school board is up to the task.

A native of Niles, Jack Strayer moved back home in 2009 after living and working in Washington DC since 1976. Strayer has served as a congressional staffer, state legislative press secretary, federal registered lobbyist and Vice President of the National Center for Policy Analysis. He is a nationally recognized expert on federal health policy reform and led the fight for the enactment of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).