Jim Witt is going to retire as superintendent at Lake Local Schools.
MILLBURY – Lake Local Schools’ superintendent is stepping down at the end of this school year.
Jim Witt has held the office since July 2006.
“I’ve been superintendent for 18 years and it seems like a good time for there to be a change,” he said.
He’s leaving now because he has become eligible for a full pension from the Ohio Teachers Retirement System.
Board member Tim Krugh said Witt’s departure was not a surprise and it was clear this three-year contract would be his last.
“We’ve had plenty of notice,” Krugh said, whose time on the board predates Witt as superintendent.
When asked why he’s stayed for so long, Witt joked “stubbornness and stupidity come to mind,” but then got serious and said he was blessed to have school board members who have been supportive and collaborative and came into office without an agenda.
He also gave a shout out to the stability of the administrative team, many who have been there as long as he has.
“The trust I have in them has really been an advantage,” he said.
Immediately prior to coming to Lake, Witt was athletic director at Sylvania Northview for one year. Before that, he spent seven years as a building administrator at Lake: principal at the former junior high for four years, high school assistant principal for one year and high school principal for two years.
“There’s challenges on a regular basis,” he said when asked for examples he has faced over the years.
School funding topped the list.
“I don’t know if I ever went very long where I tried to figure out how we could save money,” he said.
He said the district passed an operating levy a week after he started.
“I would love to tell you it was because I had something to do with it, but I didn’t,” he joked.
Immediately following, in November of 2006, was passage of a permanent improvement levy, which gave the district some breathing room, he said.
Financial stability lasted a decade.
The district had two operating levies fail in August and November of 2011 before passing a 6.75 mill operating levy in August of 2012.
“If memory serves me correctly, we cut about $1.9 million off the budget during that time,” Witt said.
And because education is a labor-intensive business, the majority of reductions were staff members.
“Informing those folks who were losing their jobs was very difficult. (We) did this in person because we felt that was the best way to go about it. It was probably the low point of my career,” he said.
The district hasn’t asked voters for more operating money since that levy passed in 2012.
“Our team has been able to stabilize the finances of the district. At one time, it felt as though we had a levy on every ballot. That is no longer the case,” Witt said.
He spoke briefly about the June 5, 2010, tornado that leveled the high school and killed seven people.
That morning at 6 a.m., he held a team meeting at Bob Evans in Northwood.
“We made a commitment that we were going to do what was best for the kids and try to rebuild without going back to the community for another levy,” he said.
The district accomplished that goal. The $25.5 million facility was constructed with $20.4 million in insurance, $4.8 million from the Ohio School Facilities Commission and $500,000 from Kohl’s Cares.
The new high school opened for the 2012-2013 school year.
Witt said his mom compiled a scrapbook of the weeks and months following the tornado, and when he looked at it for the first time, he saw many things he hadn’t known had happened as he was ingrained in the day-to-day work of getting a new school built.
He said he still thinks of those who died in the storm.
“To see a community rally like this one did was really inspiring,” he said.
Other successes include the district’s safety policies and plans. Lake has been called one of the two safest and proactive districts in Ohio, he said.
One university has used us in their textbooks to illustrate the best ways to make your schools safe, he said, and bragged that campus facilities were some of the best in the area.
“We take an awful lot of pride in providing a place that is conducive to learning for our students and our staff,” Witt said.
Witt also take pride in Lake graduates. There are alumni who are contributing members of society at the highest levels of their chosen professions, including doctors, business people, attorneys, educators, skilled tradesmen, law enforcement, and entrepreneurs, he said.
While finances may be on track, other difficulties remain.
Finding qualified candidates to fill positions has become a challenge, Witt said, and the concerns for mental health of students and staff has grown.
“I don’t know if it will ever be finished,” he said about mental health issues.
Now, he said feels like he spends as much or more time getting kids feds and properly clothed than focusing on the three Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic.
“We try to do what’s best for the kids, and that shows, and be good stewards of the community’s dollars,” he said.
He said he won’t stay unemployed but is looking forward to working 40 hours a week rather than 70.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I want to have time for my family,” Witt said.
“He’s been a fantastic superintendent,” Krugh said. “The communication with the board, the community and the staff have been fabulous.”
Witt will be sorely missed and hard to replace, he said. The search for a replacement will start this month with the hope of having someone hired by March.
Witt’s tenure has probably been the best in the district, Krugh said.
Witt’s wife, Diane, is also retiring from the Wood County Educational Service Center.
The couple have three sons – Casey, Cody and Aaron — and two grandsons. All three sons are Lake High School graduates. Casey teachers and coaches in the district.
Witt said he’s looking forward to more time to hunt with his two black Labs and planning a trip to Paris for the Olympic Games next summer with Aaron.
He will leave just months before Lake’s new elementary school is expected to open.
Witt said the project was in good hands.
“Even though I might not physically be there, I’m a phone call away,” he said.
