Tecumseh school board selects administrator in Ann Arbor schools as next superintendent

TECUMSEH — The Tecumseh Public Schools' next superintendent will have a shorter commute to work when he starts in May.

Matt Hilton and his family already live in the district, with one child who graduated from Tecumseh in 2022 and another who's a senior this year. He's been the executive director of elementary education at Ann Arbor Public Schools since July 2021, but now his commute will be just about four miles.

"This position is something of a homecoming opportunity for me," he told the board of education during his second interview Tuesday.

The board voted 7-0 to offer the position to Hilton. The next step is to work out a contract. The board gave its search consultant, Rodney Green of the Michigan Association of School Boards, the parameters on pay — $160,000 a year in a possible combination of salary and an annuity — and a start date — May 20 — to begin negotiations. The plan is for the board to approve the contract at its next meeting on April 8.

"I am thrilled, I am honored, I am excited, and I absolutely accept the position," Hilton said to applause when Green called him and put him on speakerphone so the board and audience in the high school media center could hear him.

Board members said they want Hilton to have time to work with retiring Superintendent Rick Hilderley before Hilderley's last day in the office on June 7. They particularly want Hilton to get up to speed on the district's reconfiguration, with two elementary buildings being closed, fourth graders moving to the middle school and the lower grades being at the Tecumseh Acres and Sutton schools. Hilton may use vacation days between now and his official start date to begin shadowing Hilderley.

Hilderley's contract ends June 30. He'll use up his remaining vacation time to finish his tenure as superintendent.

The school board interviewed two finalists Tuesday: Hilton and East Jackson Superintendent Stephen Doerr. In the first round of interviews on Saturday, the board also interviewed Tecumseh High School Principal Kimberly Irish and Milan High School Principal Aaron Shinn.

Each board member complimented Doerr but said Hilton was the stronger of the two finalists.

Becky Brooks, Tim Simpson, Tony Rebottaro and Lynne Davis each noted that Hilton has not held the title of superintendent before, but in his role in Ann Arbor he oversees 20 elementary buildings and 7,000 students.

"That's more than we've got here, that's for sure," Simpson said. "If you can handle that caseload, I'm pretty sure you can handle this."

"We are going through a great transition right now, and I think it would be fabulous for him to grow with us," Brooks said.

"Knowing the previous superintendent of Ann Arbor, more than likely Matt Hilton was allowed to act fairly independently like a superintendent," Davis said.

Jacob Martinez called Hilton "excellent" and "candid" and said he liked that he's already a member of the Tecumseh community and a parent of students in the district. He, Mary Tommelein and Greg Lewis each complimented Hilton's leadership skills.

Hilton's answers to the interview questions showed a good balance of process and policy, Davis said. She also liked that when he didn't have an answer to a question, he explained the process he would use to get the answer.

Lewis observed that most of Tecumseh's recent superintendents have had high school teaching or administrative experience. He said Hilton's experience in elementary education may help the district as it tries to reverse its trend of declining student enrollment.

Rebottaro said in his 40 years in management he's never heard such glowing recommendations when doing reference checks as he heard when making calls about Hilton.

During the interviews, both Doerr and Hilton opened by reviewing their plans for their first 90 days in office. Hilton started with his core beliefs, which include being authentic, empathetic and transparent in leadership and communication; having continuous improvement and growth based on collaboration and input; having a focus on safe, welcoming and caring learning environments for all kids; and that parents and community are key members of the district's team.

He then detailed what he would address at the beginning of his tenure, which he divided into four "buckets": personnel/leadership, academics/programs, learning environment/culture, and communications/community engagement.

Under personnel and leadership, he said he would study the administrative parts of the position, such as policies, budget, contracts, curriculum and capital improvements. He also would have one-on-one meetings with staff who directly report to him, building administrators, the teachers union leadership and school board members and he would have conversations with Hilderley.

In academics and programs, he would study the district's academic performance data, its Continuous Improvement Plan and all of the prekindergarten through high school programs.

To study the learning environment and culture, he would spend "a day in the life" of each school so that he can connect with students, parents and staff, participate in building staff meetings so that he can find out how the central office can help them, and attend student events.

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Communications and community engagement is about visibility and accessibility and reaching out to area leaders. Being out in the community, he said, "has a second point, too. The point is to build some excitement and energy around what's going on in our schools and telling that story so that people know the impact that you all are having on the kids here in Tecumseh Public Schools."

During the questions from the board, Hilton said he would meet people where they want to meet. He talked about how Tecumseh Mayor Jack Baker pumping gas at Perky Pantry helped him meet residents and talk to them about their concerns.

"I don't know if I'll go pump gas, but I might do it. I might," he said, drawing laughter from the audience. "I would do similar things like that. I go for walks at Indian Trails. I'll be at Musgrove. I am in and around the community."

The goal is to have people know him by name, he said.

He and his wife, Sara, both grew up in small towns in West Michigan, and they chose to live in the Tecumseh area so that their kids could have that same small-town experience, Hilton told the board.

"We have found that here," he said.

Prior to being promoted to his current role in Ann Arbor, Hilton was assistant principal and principal at Mitchell Elementary in Ann Arbor from 2014 to 2021. Before his administrative roles, he was a reading specialist and Title I teacher in Ann Arbor from 2005 to 2014. Before moving to the Ann Arbor schools, he was a kindergarten through third grade literacy coach from 2003 to 2005 and as a classroom teacher from 2000 to 2003 for Holland Public Schools.

Hilton has a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, with a math/science composite and a professional teaching certificate, from Hope College. He also has a Master of Arts degree in educational leadership and an administrative certificate from Michigan State University.

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh school board selects next superintendent