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Announcer: Welcome to Inside Michigan Education, a weekly show featuring interviews with community leaders, school administrators, school business officials, and individuals who are passionate about the future of Michigan Education. Now, here is your host for Inside Michigan Education, Rob Huisingh.
Rob Huisingh: Welcome to Inside Michigan Education, this week we are joined in the Foxbright Podcast Studio by Mr. David Sipka. This is David's first year as Superintendent of the Montague Area Public Schools, and we thought it would be interesting to listen to his thoughts as he approaches the halfway mark in his first year on the job. Welcome David, it's a pleasure to have you on our show.
David Sipka: Thanks, it's great being here.
Rob Huisingh: David, tell us a little bit about Montague Area Public Schools.
David Sipka: Montague is located North of Muskegon. It is on Lake Michigan, it's one of the really -- it's a beautiful, beautiful site, a wonderful district to be in. There are about 1,500 students in the district. It is in Northern Muskegon County, but 60% of our students come from Oceana County, which is struggling economically. So it is a challenge.
There is quite a bit of rural area in our district as well, hence we have had a few snow days in the last few weeks as we get -- the snow is coming in off the lake and certainly the wind, it's has been interesting.
Rob Huisingh: Now, I understand that prior to accepting the Superintendency at Montague Area Public Schools, that you were the Assistant Superintendent at Coopersville Public Schools. Now, I am curious about your thoughts. Is there a big difference between the two positions and were you prepared, and what is it like to be a Superintendent?
David Sipka: I do feel as though I am very prepared to be a superintendent. As a matter of fact, I have had a lot of people as an Assistant Superintendent trying to push me into a superintendency, saying, you really need to be out there, we need folks like you to be in those leadership positions.
I had the really great fortune of working with a great mentor, Kevin O'Neil, who I have known for a number of years. Kevin was an Interim Superintendent for Grand Rapids Public, and I recruited him to come out to Coopersville, actually. He really helped to transform that district over a time, from being really in tough economic struggles, to a time when they are really in a good shape right now. Luckily, Kevin included me and our Business Manager in a number of the decisions that were made, so moving to superintendency I understood the complexities of the decisions that had to be made at the Superintendent level.
Rob Huisingh: I am curious, you must have identified a few areas, challenges and opportunities as people call them, as you took on this position in Montague, talk to us about those.
David Sipka: When I began to tell my friends and associates that I was going to be a Superintendent, it was amazing, their response, why would anyone want to be a Superintendent in today's economic climate, and also given the many mandates for both the State and Federal level. So it has been interesting to come into that seat and to really look at the challenges from that top point of view.
There have been a lot of challenges. The first on that list is the economic situation that the State of Michigan is in...
Rob Huisingh: Financially.
...and concurrently, yes, financially the financial situation is tough for the state, and then the trickle-down effect happens at the local level.
Our district had been cutting into their fund equity for the last three years. In this past year, out of $1.2 million fund equity, they were going to take about $700,000 out of it just to fund the operations, and we just can't do that.
So I have had to come in and really do some Zero-Based Budgeting with the administrative team, try and look at -- I stole Governor Granholm's line from her State of the State Address from a year ago. "We need some reform, some restructuring, and some more revenue". That has really been my mantra coming into the district.
Then we have the whole situation with No Child Left Behind; the mandates that have been put on us from the Federal government, and how do we cope with those when we have little funding to support those initiatives.
Rob Huisingh: How did you go about solving the financial crisis at the school?
David Sipka: As I mentioned, we looked at Zero-Based Budgeting. We really got it down to bare bones. We started and said, what do we absolutely have to have as a district, and then began to put back the pieces. We looked at what could we do differently. How could we spend our money differently? What are the things that we really want but, in this day and age, we probably can't afford?
So I came in January and proposed to the budget about $500,000 of changes, some cuts, some reforms, and some restructuring. When I did that I asked the Board, is there anything you really can't live with. They were pretty good about pointing a couple of things out that they really struggled with.
So we took that piece, and then we also looked at extending a 2001 bond issue. We will be going to the voters in May and asking them to extend their current bond payments, not increasing the millage. In that way we are able to pump as much as $25 million into the district to do some renovations, to actually build a new early childhood center, to build a new transportation center that we have needed for years.
Rob Huisingh: Now, you mentioned earlier, on funded state mandates, are there some in particular that are giving you a lot of stress?
David Sipka: Well, I think No Child Left Behind certainly, and all the components of that. I firmly believe that No Child Left Behind was great legislation in theory. My concern with it is that it presumed that all children, all schools, all districts, were on the same playing field, the same level playing field, and that's just not true.
I think the High School Reform has been another one that has challenged us. As a smaller school district, we have concerns with staffing. As we are in that transition period of having this year's freshman cohort under one program, one reform program, and the other three classes, sophomores, juniors and seniors under the old regime, making all of that work has been challenging, but it has been fun too.
Rob Huisingh: What are your hopes for No Child Left Behind legislation?
David Sipka: Well, I really think that they have to look at the ultimate goal of having all students be at a particular point, on a particular day, in a particular year. I don't think that that is where we should be looking. I mean, that's our ultimate goal that we want all students to learn, but to be able to box them into all needing to be on the same page, on the same day, is really antiquated educational thinking, and just seems inappropriate. So I would hope that Congress would take a look at this and scale back some of the punishments that they have included in the prior legislation, and really talk about ways that they can support schools rather than punishing schools.
Rob Huisingh: Now that you have, so to speak, walked a mile in the shoes of a Michigan Superintendent of a public school, are there any early observations that you have, and anything you would like to share?
David Sipka: I think it's challenging everyday, you never know what will come your way. It is not an easy job, and I really think the public needs to give a hug to all those educational leaders that are out there today, because there are a lot of great people in public schools that are working day and night, that sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a shot of adrenaline, thinking about what they have to do the next day or what challenges lie ahead.
It has just been great to be part of this public school process, and I am really pleased with the people that I work alongside. In Montague we happen to have just great staff and great support people, and great parents. I have really been awed by the group that I work with and really impressed.
Rob Huisingh: Well David, I want to thank you for taking the time to be with us today and for sharing your insights as a new superintendent in Michigan public schools, and certainly look forward to the fruits of your labor as you work together with the school and with the community at large. Just thanks for being here on our show as well.
David Sipka: Thanks, it has been great.
Rob Huisingh: If you would like to contact David Sipka, he can be reached by telephone at (231) 893-1515. Again that telephone number is (231) 893-1515. And you can visit Montague Area Public Schools online at www.montague.k12.mi.us. Again that URL is www.montague.k12.mi.us. Until next week, this is Rob Huisingh with Inside Michigan Education.
Announcer: This has been the Inside Michigan Education Podcast; comments are welcome through our website at www.insidemieducation.com, or by email to feedback@insidemieducation.com. We hope you have enjoyed the show.