Interviews for Onsted schools superintendent finalists to wrap up this week

ONSTED — After a slight change in plans last week for the second round of interviews for its superintendent finalists, Onsted Community Schools will wrap up its final candidate interview this week.

An interview with Clara Howitt, a Greater Essex County district administrator in Ontario, Canada, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at Onsted High School in the media center. While the interview — the district’s last of its three finalists for superintendent — will be open to the public, Howitt will not be present for the interview but will engage in the questions and answers virtually, according to information received from Karen Springer, Onsted Community Schools’ human resources director/executive assistant to the superintendent.

Howitt was originally scheduled to interview a second time with the board of education May 6, but due to a personal matter was unable to attend. Finalists who interviewed a second time last week included Jonathon Royce, principal of Charlotte High School, and Jodi Ferris, principal at Fremont Public Schools’ Pathfinder Elementary School.

The board’s process for narrowing down its superintendent candidates list has been ongoing since applications for the leadership post closed March 20. A pool of 19 candidates were presented to the board and from there six were selected for the first round of interviews April 23-24.

Royce, Howitt and Ferris held site visits at Onsted’s campus May 2-3.

More: Onsted Community Schools superintendent announces retirement

The second-round interviews have been scheduled for one hour for each candidate. The interviews consist of a 10- to 15-minute presentation highlighting a 90-day onboarding plan and an additional 10- to 15-minute presentation about how to deal with a hypothetical $1 million budget shortfall followed by questions from the board.

The complete interviews for Royce and Ferris can be viewed at onstedschools.us/superintendent-search. Here is some of what each candidate had to say:

Jonathon Royce

For Onsted Community Schools to be the No. 1 rural district in the state of Michigan, it needs to hold close the values of connections, accountability and trust, Royce said.

As a potential new superintendent, he said, it would be important for him to learn as much as he can about Onsted from those people who are well vested in the district.

Some initial steps of his first 30 days as superintendent would be communicating and surrounding himself with teams of staff and administrators who could network with him. Approaching the 60-day mark, he would begin to familiarize himself with the school budget.

For the last 30 days of his 90-day plan, school is getting back in session from summer break and professional development for teachers and staff has been taking place. This is an important time of learning and “being that sponge to soak up everything,” he said.

Royce said he is ready to adapt to Onsted Community Schools, be flexible during the transition and expect change. In the meantime, he noted the importance of working within the traditions already in place at the district and amplifying anything that he can.

Education is his passion, Royce said, and he doesn’t get “burned out” while working in the education field. His long-term career plans if selected as Onsted’s next superintendent, he said, would be to remain at Onsted for the long haul.

“Onsted won’t be a launching pad (for his career),” he said.

Being proactive, he said, is how he would address the hypothetical situation in which Onsted schools is hemorrhaging funds.

“First things first, the board should have an idea this is happening,” he said.

An analysis of the school’s strategic plan, its priorities and what things can be off the table would need to be studied, he said.

“That’s the place to start,” he said.

In the role of superintendent, his job is to communicate with the intermediate school district, the Michigan Department of Education and other county superintendents to collaborate on how problem-solving can be accomplished.

Ideas for revenue enhancements, cost mitigation strategies and trend reversals were shared by Royce.

Onsted schools are not alone when it comes to districts experiencing a decline in student enrollment, he said.

“Declining enrollment is a sign of fiscal distress,” he said.

Proactive communication and being upfront about the struggles facing the district will help build trust and transparency within the community, he said.

Jodi Ferris

Like Royce, Ferris detailed her 90-day onboarding plan in three 30-day stages. Throughout the entire 90 days, Ferris said, she would continually be building positive rapport with staff, the community and stakeholders.

As superintendent, it starts with her to provide means for Onsted to provide its students with a cohesive kindergarten through 12th grade learning experience. Understanding the district’s curriculum, instruction and assessment practices would be among the tasks of her first 90 days.

Days 61-90 would be her favorite, she said, because that’s when school is getting back in session.

With a background in elementary education, Ferris said, she would be interested in learning as much as she could about Onsted's secondary schools.

Gaining insight into the district’s non-instructional departments and its financial situation are among the steps for her first 90 days, she detailed.

Meeting problems head-on is important for an administrator, she said.

“When you don’t know something, you surround yourself with those who have more knowledge than you have,” she said.

Onsted’s mission statement — “To ensure individual growth and an excellent learning experience to foster active and creative minds, with compassion for others and courage to be leaders in a diverse global community” — should be maintained during a hypothetical financial shortfall, she said.

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“If there is a big budget cut coming, we need to really be talking about it early so that nobody is taken by surprise,” she said.

Asking questions such as “What does Onsted think is really important?” and “What are those shared values?” will help the district in making those tough financial decisions.

Advocacy for the school, both within the community and at the state level, is another piece Ferris said she would consider in addressing a potential shortfall.

She would keep any kind of budget cuts as far away from the students as possible, she said.

“I think that every kid in Michigan deserves equitable opportunity,” she said.

Factors that led the district to a major shortfall in funding need to be clearly communicated so that there is no confusion within the community, she said.

As the district’s leader, it's important to remain honest and positive during such a time.

“Any school budget has 80% of its budget as personnel,” she said. “If you’re losing $1 million, sadly you are going to cut people, you can’t do it otherwise.”

An audit of class sizes would be conducted to see if classes and staff can be adjusted. A staff audit also would be conducted, she suggested, to see if everyone’s time is being used efficiently.

— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: twitter.com/LenaweeHeineman.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Onsted schools to finish superintendent interviews May 16