News Photo by Julie Goldberg Hillman/Atlanta Superintendent Carl Seiter works with Business Manager Jill Olsen on Hillman’s 2018-19 budget.

Carl Seiter has had to balance the roles of being the superintendent for both Hillman Community Schools and Atlanta Community Schools this school year. He said this first year as the superintendent for both districts has been a year of learning.

“It’s been an incredible learning experience,” Seiter said. “I’ve never had to split my time and be as conscious about my schedule and sharing myself. It’s been a learning experience, challenging, but also very rewarding.”

Seiter already is seeing instances of growth within both districts, and he said that’s because both districts now have full-time administrators and a superintendent who can help direct and lead the districts.

The support within both communities has been a surprise to him during his first year.

“The support within the small communities is amazing,” he said. “Most communities are supportive, but the level of support for both Atlanta from their folks and Hillman from the community has been amazing.”

Seiter said the first year of being a new superintendent is sitting back, learning and understanding what the districts are all about.

“I’m reluctant to come in and just turn everything upside down,” Seiter said. “I want to fully understand the way they do things before I think about how can we talk about tweaking or adjusting or whatever, so given this first year, I’ve learned a lot but I’m also constantly learning on how to deal with the struggles of a small district.”

Both Hillman and Atlanta are starting a partnership with Alpena Public Schools and its career and technical and education program next school year and Seiter is excited about the partnership.

Seiter also is working with Don MacMaster, Alpena Community College president, and people at Kirtland Community College to help offer Atlanta and Hillman students more options.

“A big push of mine is somehow we’ve got to make sure that our kids don’t suffer with the lack of opportunities that kids in bigger districts have,” Seiter said.

Next school year will be the start of Early College for both school districts. Seiter also is in talks with MacMaster about a video conferencing type of format for classes for the students.

“I think that is going to help us draw two or three kids from Johannesburg-Lewiston, Onaway, Oscoda, or Alcona all wanting to take the courses that used to be not feasible for the college to provide through this video conferencing,” Seiter said. “It will be an offering and I know Don’s working on obtaining some grants to help fund for equipment for that type of situation, but I’m excited about that increased offering for the kids.”

Seiter said the staff at both districts have been great to work with. He said they are willing to work and do whatever it takes to ensure students get the best education.

Seiter said small towns are where he wants to be because of the people.

“I don’t want to be anywhere else,” he said. “Small towns offer a lot. You would think that you’re limited, but it just means that we have far more creative people in small towns like that and small districts to still accomplish what we need to with what we have.”

Seiter has had the opportunity to work with two boards of education and he said a challenge is board relations.

“I’m at a point in my career where I am going to do things that I feel are in the best interests of our kids and if that’s not good enough for the board then I don’t know,” Seiter said. “For the most part, both boards have been extremely supportive. I think I do a fairly good job of conveying reasons behind some of the directions I’ve done.”

Seiter said both boards were used to a superintendent at the school district all day and the biggest adjustment for them is Seiter not being at both districts all the time.

“I think he’s done a good job,” Atlanta school board President Amy Corbin said. “He’s done a good job of balancing between the two districts. It’s probably more difficult then what we see, but he’s done a fantastic job.”

The collaboration between the two districts is the first step for a lot of collaborative efforts to happen, Seiter said.

“I hope in the future that when it comes to hiring teaching staff, particularly in the extracurricular type things or the non-core classes like art, drama, and speech, all of those things, I can maybe hire a teacher to do both districts because that’s where we struggle the most in being able to offer a wide variety of electives,” he said.

Hillman school board member Jack Matthias said Seiter has done a superb job this school year.

“I think he came in to a terrible mess and it’s not going to turn around immediately. I think we’re making progress,” Matthias said.

Corbin said she hasn’t noticed Seiter not being at Atlanta full-time because Atlanta hasn’t had a full-time superintendent in a while. Corbin said Seiter is always available by text or email for them to be able to communicate.

Corbin said the opportunities for the students to take the CTE classes is a fantastic opportunity for the students.

“We’re a small district with a limited budget, so it helps,” she said. “It’s going to open a lot of doors for the students.”

Hillman board Vice President Sally Petrik said a strategic plan is going to come out in July where Seiter is going to work with teachers and putting goals together for the school district for the next three to five years. She said the board is excited about that.

Julie Goldberg can be reached via email at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.