Joseph Kenneth Piasecki was an American school superintendent whose career in Michigan public education began with classroom teaching in 1968. He led St. Mary's Preparatory School and the Breckenridge and Chelsea school districts, and he founded the Chelsea Education Foundation in 1990.
Background
Joseph Kenneth Piasecki was born on November 3, 1946, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, the son of Joseph F. Piasecki and Lorraine T. Piasecki. Detroit was then the principal center of the American automobile industry, whose plants had expanded rapidly during the Second World War and remained the backbone of the city's economy in the postwar years.
Michigan's public schools were organized into local districts governed by elected school boards, and a superintendent served as the chief executive officer of a district. Piasecki's later career unfolded within this system, in districts across southeastern and central Michigan.
Education
Piasecki's higher education took place in Michigan. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Michigan University in 1968 and a Master of Arts from the same institution in 1971. The university was founded in 1892 by residents of Mount Pleasant as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, to provide the local schools with properly trained teachers. It came under state control in 1895, became a four-year university in 1918, and was renamed Central Michigan University in 1959, so it bore that name during his studies.
He later completed a certified Specialist in Education qualification at Wayne State University in 1979. Wayne State is a public university in Detroit, the city where he was born, and the specialist-level program in education typically represents advanced study beyond the master's degree.
Piasecki began his career in Michigan classrooms. He taught at Pontiac (Michigan) Schools in Pontiac from 1968 to 1969 and then at Rochester (Michigan) Schools in Rochester from 1969 to 1972. Both communities lie in Oakland County, the suburban county north of Detroit.
He served as assistant principal at Rochester (Michigan) Schools from 1972 to 1977. Assistant principals in Michigan public schools typically supported the principal in supervising instruction and student conduct. From 1977 to 1979 he worked for West Bloomfield (Michigan) Schools as a project manager and assistant principal, and in 1980 he served as acting principal of the district's high school.
In 1980 he became superintendent and principal of St. Mary's Preparatory School in Orchard Lake, Michigan, a post he held until 1984. The school is a Roman Catholic college preparatory institution founded in 1885 in Orchard Lake Village. Its campus grew out of a Polish seminary established in Detroit that year to train Roman Catholic priests, which moved to Orchard Lake in 1909.
From 1984 to 1988 he was superintendent of Breckenridge (Michigan) Community Schools in Breckenridge, a small community in central Michigan. During these years he also appears among the 1986–1987 participants of the Michigan Education Policy Leadership Program, which Michigan State University's College of Education has run since 1975.
In 1988 he became superintendent of the Chelsea (Michigan) School District in Chelsea, Michigan. Chelsea became a village in 1889 and a city in 2004, and its school district serves the city and nearby rural areas. He held this position until his death in December 1993.
Religion
Piasecki's documented religious affiliation is Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church traces its origins to the early Christian community and recognizes the bishop of Rome, the pope, as the successor of Saint Peter. Its teaching rests on the Nicene Creed, the seven sacraments, and the authority of Scripture and sacred Tradition.
The Church has long operated schools, seminaries, and charitable institutions. Roman Catholic college preparatory schools in Michigan, such as St. Mary's Preparatory School, where Piasecki served as superintendent and principal, belong to this educational tradition.
Membership
Piasecki belonged to several professional and civic organizations. The American Association of School Administrators is a national association of school system leaders, and the Michigan Association of School Administrators served the same profession within the state. The Michigan Association of School Boards represents the elected boards that govern Michigan's public school districts.
Lions Clubs belong to an international service organization founded in Chicago in 1917 to organize local clubs for community service. Chelsea United Way is a local fundraising and human-services network, and Piasecki served on its executive board from 1988. The Chelsea Athletic Boosters, a parent and community support group, backed school athletics.
The Chelsea Education Foundation was founded in 1990 by Piasecki while he served as superintendent. Its purpose was to link schools, businesses, and the community to strengthen Chelsea's future, and it was registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in 1999. Piasecki served as a trustee of the foundation.
American Association of School Administrators
Michigan Association of School Administrators
Michigan Association of School Boards
Lions
Chelsea Athletic Boosters
Member of the executive board
Chelsea United Way
1988 - 1993
Trustee and founder
Chelsea Education Foundation
1990 - 1993
Interests
Political Americana
Connections
Piasecki was married to Marlene Piasecki, who survived him as his widow. His parents were Joseph F. Piasecki and Lorraine T. Piasecki.
