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News
News
IRON RIVER — Iron Mountain-natives Kevin Schmutzler and his wife Carissa had been looking to a move back to the U.P. from Manistee for several years. He would check the job postings for principals or superintendents that opened in the U.P. but nothing that did become available felt right.
Until the job of West Iron County superintendent was posted last winter, after Chris Thomson made it known that the 2020-21 school year would be his last. With Thomson set to retire, the WIC job became available and Schmutzler’s ears perked up.
“It’s been kind of at our heartstrings (to move back to the U.P.),” said Schmutzler, who had spent 20 years in the Manistee Area Public Schools as teacher, coach and eventually principal. “We both grew up in Iron Mountain and our entire family is in the area. We were the only ones that ended up landing below the bridge.
“Opportunities would come up, but it just didn’t feel right at (those) times. Our kids were in high school at the time. But three of them are out of high school now and so when I saw a posting for West Iron, I said let’s look into it.”
Schmutzler was already familiar with Iron County, of course. Not only did he graduate from Iron Mountain High School in 1995 and compete in athletics against West Iron, but he had also spent a lot of time fishing in the area.
Serendipitously, his interim pastor in Manistee was former WIC High School teacher Jack Hudson, who recommended the district. Schmutzler also sought out any information he could find on the current situation at West Iron.
“And everything I was listening to was really good stuff. They work well together, good things happening with the staff and the administration was solid. And financially, the district is in a really good place.”
He also discovered that the buildings on campus had been or were going to be upgraded and that the district was moving toward deeper use of technology, which Schmutzler had been immersed in at Manistee.
“(The West Iron job) was an attractive position,” Schmutzler said. “I don’t know, there’s probably like 40 new superintendents in the state this year. There were a lot of postings. And I only applied for one.”
And after his interview with the West Iron County School Board in March, Schmutzler got the one he applied for as he was hired in April and took over the position on July 1.
He was chosen over four other candidates who applied for the position. The contract Schmutzler signed will run through June 30, 2024.
“It was a seven-person consensus from minute one of our discussion,” Board President Faye Atanasoff said of the board’s decision to hire Schmutzler at an April 9 special meeting.
This will be Schmutzler’s first superintendent experience after having been both elementary and middle school/high school principal at Manistee.
Prior to his official start at West Iron, Schmutzler said he had three discussions with Thomson during June before the latter’s retirement on June 30.
“That was good to learn a little bit of history. His institutional knowledge is priceless to me right now. He’s left this place in a really good place, so again, that made it attractive for someone like me to want to come here.”
Schmutzler did address the current and future challenges he sees at West Iron and in the field of education as a whole. Namely, the lack of college students seeking a career in education.
“You see it coming. It’s not unique to West Iron, there’s not as many people going into teaching. Years ago, I’d have 70, 80 applicants for two jobs and now you’re lucky to get four or five.”
Schmutzler freely admits that a career in education is not a lucrative one. But there are other benefits to the field beyond the financial, as he has learned in his 20 years in the profession.
“You get to make a difference and impact kids,” he began. “And the teachers that I know are truly relational. When I was in high school, coming from a broken home, I had teachers and coaches and mentors that gave me some hope.
“There’s one thing that can save a kid’s life and that’s their education. It just can change the direction that they’re on and it gives them hope that there is something better out there.”
Schmutzler said his first several weeks at West Iron will be a time for listening and learning. He said he plans to meet with the board members individually, talk to the principals Michelle Thomson and Mike Berutti one-on-one and make contact with the West Iron County Educational Association leadership.
“Basically, I want to know what it means to be a Wykon. And then I’ll have three questions.”
Schmutzler said he specifically wants to ask those he meets with where there are things the district needs to stop doing, things the district needs to start doing and if there is anything “a little bit broken” that needs to be fixed.
He added he has no plans to come in and make sweeping changes. He said eventually he wants to “put my spin on some things.”
“Ultimately, I’ve been asked to raise the bar, to always continue to improve.”
Finallly, Schmutzler also spoke to the parental community and to the greater community in general.
“I may not have all the answers but every decision I make will be based on what’s best for kids. And if I ever make a decision that is not best for kids, I would expect you to come talk to me about that and if we need to fix it, we’ll fix it.
“That’s my guiding compass – do what’s best for kids. And everything will fall into place.”