The Oakdale Grade School Board of Education met Monday night and approved a 4-year contract with Charles Peterson as the new Superintendent – Principal, taking over for Ryan Wamser, who resigned at last month’s meeting to take a position as Assistant Regional Superintendent in the Regional Office of Education Number 50 in Saint Clair County.  Peterson was Superintendent – Principal at McClellan Grade School in Jefferson County for the past 3 years.  McClellan is still looking to hire someone, and he said he would still help that school if needed, until a new person is up and running.  Peterson said the Board held a public hearing on a waiver for out of district teachers to be able to have their children attend Oakdale Grade School with no charge for being out of district students.  He explains the waiver as it would offer a personal convenience to the school personnel, but also their vested interest in the school overall would increase, as would their motivation to improve instruction, climate and culture, and overall programming.  It could also help in the recruitment of highly qualified staff to a rural area, such as Oakdale, that can’t always compete with some of the larger school districts for top applicants at the more privileged schools.  It was approved by the Board and now goes through several steps to be approved on the state level, which may take several more months.  Most teachers are not in the Oakdale school area.  They also approved a 2-year contract with Sherman Bus Company, as their previous servicer, Voges out of Coulterville, did some cutting back on their areas, which included dropping Oakdale.  This will include 2 buses on 2 routes.  Peterson said there were some minor changes to the Student Handbook for the upcoming school year, but they dealt with name changes of faculty and personnel, not with procedures.  They also approved the bid by the Oakdale FS Office for the yearly propane purchases.