Manitowoc Public School’s soon-to-be former superintendent believes it was time the right time for him to move on.
Those were comments from Jim Feil after he and the school board signed a separation agreement during a special meeting on Thursday (August 22nd).
Speaking with Seehafer News, Feil says he was originally looking for an interim position to try and get the district ready for another superintendent.
“One of the main purposes was to put together a strategic plan,” he explained. “We did that. The second thing was raising academics.”
But Feil says the board made him the permanent superintendent in 2022, which wasn’t part of the original plan.
He says he still moved forward working with the board and not only did what he wanted but the district exceeded expectations, especially after implementing the Success for All program which he says brought up reading scores.
“Reading scores was I first started were 7%,” he said. “That was always difficult to talk about, but this district had so much potential. Well, not only were we successful we were hitting double digits. We ended with the year first talking about, well let’s set it (academics levels) at 10% growth. But then we all said no that’s too low. So, we set it to 15% more kids reading at grade level or above. We ended the year 16%.”
Feil also explained that he was able to get a facilities plan in place and although the school board wasn’t ready to move forward, he said that was okay. But some work must be done soon.
“There is a short window of time, but it has to be soon that they have to get back onto the facilities,” he stated. “And so, with all that is what contributed to my mind to you know in terms of being open to say this is a good time for a handoff.”
So, what’s next for Feil? He explained that his dream was to work in another larger school district to see what he could offer. But if that doesn’t happen.
“Another interim roll or something in Wisconsin,” he described. “I’d like to get at least two more years in. In my career at this point in time I would just assume I could finish my last leg here in Wisconsin because I just fell in love with the state.”
The Manitowoc Public School Board will work to try to find an interim superintendent to fill the vacancy left by Feil. It’s unclear when the board will start searching for a permanent superintendent.
