New superintendent plans to focus on communication, community engagement
With a host of challenges facing the Manchester Community Schools, including layoffs, dwindling enrollment, state finance issues that affect every school district, several new administrators, and recently-reconfigured buildings, one might think Nick Steinmetz would be wondering, “What am I doing here?”
Instead, he’s greeting these challenges as unique opportunities and he has a firm plan for moving forward in the coming year as he begins his term as the district’s new superintendent.
His two immediate priorities are to change the “culture” of the district, and improve communication with its stakeholders–the Manchester community.
“There’s a lot of relationship-building that needs to happen,” he explains. “There’s been a tremendous amount of change in the district over the past couple of years. We need to build a safe, collaborative culture; we need to know our direction; and everyone has to feel the stability that is needed in the district.
“Once we get that right, everything else will follow.”
Steinmetz says he’s excited about this opportunity, after spending five years in the Ontonagon-Gogebic Intermediate School District–two years as an elementary principal in Ironwood, and three years as assistant superintendent for the ISD. Prior to that, he had taught in Dearborn and Berkeley schools.
“I had always told my wife that I was going to get her to move to the U.P.,” says the Royal Oak native. “And I did.”
He and his wife, Sara, met in college and they now have three daughters–Reagan, 8; Hadley, 3; and Emery, 1. After their five-year adventure in the Upper Peninsula, they are glad to be bringing their girls closer to family in southeastern Michigan. They recently purchased a home in Manchester Township.
“This is an exciting place to be,” he says. “There are a lot of positives to this move.
“We have tremendous students, teachers, and support staff, and this is a great community. We all need to work together to bring everything back to where it needs to be.”
Even before officially beginning his position, Steinmetz participated in a recent community roundtable to talk about the future of the soon-to-be vacated Ackerson building and Alumni Field, and how these properties might figure in to plans for a future community center.
“I think one thing may have been misunderstood in this conversation,” he says, “and that is that Alumni Field is NOT for sale.” He emphasized that there is no plan on the table to sell either of these properties at any time in the near future.
Personally, Steinmetz says he’d like to see the Ackerson building become a community center, as it is ideally situated to become a much-needed common facility for a wide variety of groups.
“We’ve had some great initial dialogues,” he says, “But it’s all still very pie-in-the-sky at this point. There are some hurdles that would have to be overcome; but if we can, I’d love to be a partner in this effort.”
One of the biggest challenges, of course, that faces the district is the current state finance system for education. And the declining enrollment in the district is feeding into the concerns felt by teachers, staff, students, and the wider community.
“It is definitely a balancing act,” he says. “We are doing what we can right now with the resources we have available. We need to continue to assess our needs and be diligent about addressing the shrinking numbers.”
And as a new resident of Manchester Township, Steinmetz and his young family will definitely have a relevant voice in the ongoing discussions of extending broadband coverage to the rural areas of the township. With Reagan attending the newly-named Riverside Intermediate and Sara working from home, as do so many others in the area, Nick acknowledges that “connectivity is very important in today’s society.” He recognizes the challenges inherent in bringing that essential connectivity to all rural residents and is eager to become part of the conversation.
With the many moves facing the district this summer–reopening the former Middle School as Riverside with third-sixth grades (which is now completed), moving the Early Childhood (preschool) to Klager (which is happening this week), and the administration move to Riverside (scheduled to happen by August 1), Steinmetz has high praise for the skeleton maintenance and custodial staff. The district had two retirements in the past year and was also forced to pink-slip two more custodial workers this spring. “They’ve done an amazing job,” he says. “It’s been hard work–but they’re handling it well.”
Overall, he says, things are going well after his first couple of weeks in the district. And as he looks ahead to the coming year, and his goals of communication, community engagement, and creating a positive culture within the schools, he is keeping in mind one over-arching truth:
“We’re not just a school district,” he says. “We’re Manchester Community Schools.”
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