Szymoniak?s resignation official; business manager appointed interim
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
With Bob Szymoniak?s final recommendation of his seven-year superintendency being the acceptance of his letter of resignation, members of the Onaway Area Community Schools Board of Education made some major moves to ready the district for the new school year.
Business manager Rod Fullerton was named interim superintendent and Marty Mix was elevated from assistant high school principal to secondary principal.
Thursday (yesterday) was an emotional day in the district, as Szymoniak was going to address teachers and staff one final time. The resignation was effective September 3. ?I would like to thank the community of Onaway, the staff, board of education, and of course the kids for nine excellent years,? stated Szymoniak in a letter dated September 1. ?We had a good run and did many wonderful things for kids of our district. I will miss that.?
SZYMONIAK, WHO graduated from Onaway High School and grew up in Millersburg, has accepted the superintendent?s job in Fruitport Community Schools in Muskegon County. He was Onaway?s superintendent for seven years and had the sole role of high school principal for two years before that.
The district?s budget had put Szymoniak in a position where he had the dual role of superintendent/secondary principal the last several years.
?What I don?t want to do is to be a burden on the progress of the district. I am finding that this is a very emotional time for some people, so, when I?m done addressing the staff I?m going to hand Rod my keys and leave,? he told the board Tuesday night. ?Then Rod, Marty and (new elementary principal) Mindy (Horn) can get the teachers refocused and move on. Then, I would begin fulltime employment in Fruitport Tuesday.?
?YOU?VE GIVEN us great leadership,? said board member Sharon Lyon, ?I hope we can find someone with 1/10 of your ambition to lead us (and) to help our students become the best that they can be. You can say you want better grades, but there is more to it than changing curriculum, it is developing the whole community and Bob seems to have that ability.?
With no superintendent to start the school year and the search process not yet started, the board appointed Fullerton as interim superintendent with additional compensation of $3,000 a month; approved the advancement of Mix with a salary increase to $53,000 a year; and bumped bookkeeper Freda Dougherty to five days a week.
?IT IS NOT uncommon to have a management team serve as interim superintendent during the course of a search,? said Szymoniak. ?Here, the management team is Rod. He understands all the ins and outs of the district. He is one of the few business managers who has a pretty good grasp on education and what the needs of the teachers are.? Before approving the
The board may want to wait a month to see how the district will operate, before making its next move. The pool of candidates grows after the first of the year, said Szymoniak. Board members are expected to discuss the matter more at Tuesday?s regular monthly meeting. By law, the district has to name an interim superintendent, but is not bound to any time limit for how long an interim can stay in place.
Szymoniak also said if his services are needed to handle a complicated issue, Fruitport would allow him to take a personal business day to assist his former district. ?As I am with Rod,? said Szymoniak, ?I am confident that Marty and Mindy will do great given the structures already in place to keep the school running smoothly.?