Today:

TOP JOBS Maintenance Tech Part-time, Fall & Winter. Full time Summer Apartment Community Maintenanc... DIRECT CARE STAFF Full and part time, afternoons/ midnights. Must have drivers license, GE...  [ View All Top Jobs ] TOP AUTOS SATURN 1994, 4 door, needs engine & to be towed, Single family car, $1000. 734-285-3614 TAURUS SE 1998 80K, V6, clean, must see, newer tires/brakes, $2400. 734-282-9594  [ View All Top Autos ] TOP HOMES WYANDOTTE 3 unit apartment building. 3 years old. $70,000 down with land contract. % 7.25.... WESTLAND MEADOWS 14'x80' Redman 3 bedroom 2 Bathroom Central Air New Furnace All Major App...  [View All Top Homes ] TOP RENTALS LINCOLN PARK 1 bdrm., w/ laundry, nice. $450 + dep. 734-284-3784 ROMULUS 3 Bedroom 1200 sf ranch full bsmt. remodeled kitchen and bath ceramic ,cedar and ...  [ View All Top Rentals ] TOP MERCHANDISE iSOLD It Ann Arbor eBay Consignment Sales Colonnade Center - Eisenhower Parkway Mon-Sat. 1... FOR SALE Thomasville colonial style hutch, 42 in. square antique oak table w/ leaf, 4 colo...  [ View All Top MDSE ]   View Classifieds   Submit a TopAd        or call 1-877-888-3202

	The Manchester Enterprise A Heritage Newspaper Weekly Publication

Firm hears input on superintendent search

By Edward Freundl, Heritage Newspapers

PUBLISHED: April 5, 2007

The firm searching for the next superintendent of Manchester Community Schools has worked with district staff, students and the community to develop a profile of the characteristics the successful candidate will possess.

Advertisement

Superintendent David Oegema will retire at the end of the school year, and the Manchester Board of Education in February hired the Michigan Leadership Institute to find someone to fill his shoes.

The district set up a schedule for various groups to come to district administrative offices March 15 and share their views with David Wilmot of MLI.

Half-hour time slots were set up all day and into the early evening for parents, students, teachers, support staff, administrators, municipal officials and district residents at large.

Wilmot incorporated the input in the job posting for the new superintendent (See Page 6A).

Village Manager Jeff Wallace said the village wants to maintain the good communication it has enjoyed with the school district, and said the new superintendent would have to be skilled in financial matters.

"I want somebody who can handle the new challenges that are out there with the state funding," he said.

"They need to find new ways to deal with the financial issues, while still giving the best educational service that they can."

Wallace said he told Wilmot that the schools were a major part of the community's identity.

"I told him that the largest focal point that ties the village and the township together is our kids," Wallace said. "That plays a very important part in the puzzle that makes Manchester a successful community."

Manchester High School Principal Kevin Mowrer was able to spend time with Wilmot twice: once in a session for administrators, and later in the day when Wilmot visited the school to get student input firsthand.

"I think that a key point is that our superintendent needs to have a vision of where Manchester schools is going to go in the next five 10 years," Mowrer said.

"He -- or she -- needs to develop that through his own background and in collaboration with the staff," he said, "has to be able to work with staff at the different buildings to come up with a plan that is practical and one that will work with students, parents, the community, and so on."

Wilmot talked with 16 high school sophomores and juniors about points of pride for the district and community, and what they were looking for in a new superintendent.

"The key thing they said was visibility," Mowrer said. "They'd like him to be present at school events; like him to come into classes, not only to observe but be an active participant.

"They'd like to get to know him, know that they could feel comfortable bringing their concerns to him."

Mowrer said four students have been chosen as a welcoming committee to lead candidates on school tours as the interviews begin, and two students will actually be a part of the formal interview process.

One of those, junior Julie Fielder, confirmed that her classmates are concerned about having the same access to the superintendent that they enjoy with teachers and other administrators.

"We talked a lot about it being a small school, where things are on a more person-to-person basis," Fielder said.

"The kids need to be able to talk to the superintendent; he's the one making decisions that affect the rest of us."

Fielder's mother, Mary Fielder, is a lifelong resident and teaches second grade at Klager Elementary School.

She said she is looking for someone who will be visible in the schools and the community and, like Wallace, someone who understands the financial picture.

"(Wilmot) asked about community points of pride, and I told him it's a farming community that's becoming a bedroom community, and it's conservative," she said.

"They have to be able to understand the financial struggles we're facing right now, but also understand that we have to do what's right for the kids."

Edward Freundl is a reporter for Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at 428-8173 or efreundl@heritage.com.