Szymoniak expected to leave Onaway for Fruitport superintendent job
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
The search for a new school general will commence as early as next week in Onaway, as superintendent Bob Szymoniak is expected to take a similar position in Fruitport Community Schools in western Michigan.
Monday, the Fruitport Board of Education publicly named Szymoniak as its choice for superintendent and asked its personnel committee to begin contract negotiations. Szymoniak informed local school board members of the developments after a special meeting conducted Monday night for the purposes of interviewing for the new elementary principal.
On a night where new principal Mindy Horn was named, the board learned it would have to begin the process of replacing its longest-tenured administrator.
SZYMONIAK, WHO grew up in Millersburg and graduated from Onaway High School, was a leader in the district for nearly a decade. He had been the superintendent since 2002. Prior to that he was the high school principal for two years. He held the dual roles of superintendent/secondary principal (grades 6-12).
Szymoniak said the job in Fruitport was an opportunity for his family to move back to western Michigan. ?My wife (Jenny) loved west Michigan when we lived there before,? said Szymoniak, who was in town Wednesday morning for the funeral of former head of maintenance Jim Badgero. The service was conducted at the school.
?We moved back to Onaway primarily for family reasons. Those family reasons have been resolved, so my wife and I have been talking about possibly moving back to west Michigan. I came across an opening in a school district that I knew well and loved when I lived in west Michigan, so I applied.? He had previously been the Caledonia High School principal in west Michigan.
FRUITPORT, WHICH is a little larger than the Gaylord school district, has 3,200 students. He said the biggest challenge would be not losing contact with students, which he so much enjoyed in Onaway, and having a more hands-off approach. ?Here in Onaway I?ve had my hands into everything, because we have so few administrators,? said Szymoniak, who will have 11 administrators answering to him. ?That will be a big difference.?
During Szymoniak?s tenure he has been part of a major building project, the establishment of beneficial programs for students and parents, as well as changes to attitudes and cultures in the school system.
?The entire curriculum is now aligned with the state, we established a unique form of the family resource center that is very effective in helping our kids,? he said. ?We developed a before and after school program and I?m very proud of the staff who managed that program because the funding was cut a couple of years ago, and yet they managed to keep the program alive through grants and fundraising.
?IT?S PURELY through their efforts and self-direction that we still have that program and it?s a wonderful thing for our kids and community.?
Onaway elementary went from a D- grade in the state report card to an A, said Szymoniak. ?That is a tremendous achievement and I?ve very proud of our elementary staff.?
He said the crowning achievement is the establishment of the new school health center, which is preparing to open for the 2009-10 school year. Szymoniak also is pleased with the direction Marty Mix has taken the athletic department. ?I?m very, very proud of the achievements of our at
Szymoniak concluded, ?I leave knowing the district is on an extremely good path.? A board workshop meeting Tuesday will offer details of the search for a new superintendent. Szymoniak is expected to be at tonight?s football game and at the school early next week.
Szymoniak still needs to officially sign a contract with Fruitport and resign his position in Onaway.