After 10 years, DeWitt Public Schools Superintendent John Deiter is retiring from Michigan education after receiving another opportunity in Illinois. His last day is June 30, and the DeWitt Board of Education is searching for the next superintendent to start on July 1.
“It’s an ambitious goal and our timeline is aggressive, but our consultants have said we should be able to pull it off in that time frame,” said President of the Board of Education Craig Kahler. This is Kahler's first year as president, though he's been on the board for 12 years.
The consultants that Kahler is referring to are from the Michigan Association of School Boards. The association also advised the board to utilize a public survey to collect community feedback on what they would like to see in the next superintendent.
“The reason we’re doing the survey is, we place a very high value on the input from our community, and given COVID restrictions, and the fact that we’re on a very aggressive schedule, we thought it important to give the community the opportunity, through the survey, to give us the feedback and give us their thoughts on what’s important in our next superintendent. We’ve also made sure that our staff has it so they can provide us input as well,” Kahler said.
The survey can be found on the DeWitt Schools website. It is 13 questions and will be active until Monday, April 5. There will also be a virtual community forum on the matter that same day at 6 p.m. The link to that forum can also be found on the district website.
“This is a very competitive environment we’re in right now – there are dozens of superintendent vacancies across the state right now and so it’s a very competitive landscape," Kahler said. "We know DeWitt’s an attractive community, we know we have great families, a supportive community – we want to make sure that they have an opportunity to weigh in and that we’re looking for candidates that they believe will fit into the DeWitt community and continue to move us forward.”
Kahler said that the school board has been very satisfied with Deiter, and though they are happy for him and his opportunity, they are disappointed to lose someone of his caliber. What they are looking for in the next superintendent is someone who "can come in and continue the progress that Dr. Deiter has started, and then work well with the administrative team and the school board to continue that, but then take us up to the next level.” The board's goal is to find that person by early June.
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