Waterloo principal named new Charles City school chief

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Mike Fisher was named the new superintendent of schools in Charles City, the school district Board of Education announced Tuesday.

Fisher currently serves as the principal at Hoover Middle School in Waterloo, and before that he was the assistant principal and oversaw the management of all aspects of the building.

“Mr. Fisher has done an amazing job as the principal at Hoover Middle School,” said Jane Lindaman, Waterloo superintendent. “His leadership has been exemplary. He has been interested in pursuing a superintendent position over the past couple of years, and we completely understand his decision.”

Fisher was previously an instrumental music director at West Marshall High School, directing high school concert and marching bands, ensembles, percussion choir and color guards.

In Waterloo, Fisher implemented “Project Lead the Way” and “Career and Technical Education” curriculum for career readiness courses. Also under his leadership, Hoover Middle School earned the elite Lighthouse Status as a “Leader in Me” school in 2016.

“While we are sad to see him leave Waterloo Schools, we also wish him the very best in his new position,” Lindaman added.

The board will take official action to approve Fisher’s contract at the Tuesday, May 29, meeting. Fisher will officially begin on July 1.

“I am excited and honored to be chosen as the new superintendent of schools for the Charles City Community School District and I look forward to continuing the incredible work already in place,” Fisher said in a press release Tuesday.

“Charles City Community Schools stands out as a state leader in progressive education that is truly doing what is best for students. My family was drawn to this work and we can’t wait to be part of this incredible team,” he said.

Fisher and his wife have one child. Fisher earned his advanced studies certificate in 2015 and is currently working on his doctorate at the University of Northern Iowa. He was awarded the WHO Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2009.

“We are excited to welcome Mr. Fisher to the District,” said Jason Walker, Charles City Board of Education president. “He stood out among the field of candidates as someone who will continue to expand the positive direction we have been building.”

Current Superintendent Dan Cox announced his resignation in late March to accept the position as chief administrator of the Northwest Area Education Agency located in Sioux City, effective July 1.

“The CCCEA is looking forward to meeting and working with Mike Fisher as the new school superintendent,” said Sarah Downing, incoming president of the Charles City Community Education Association. “We are excited for the future for our school system.”

The school board selected three superintendent finalists to interview with community stakeholders on Monday. The community offered feedback on the needs of the new superintendent through a community survey in April. The top two professional skills the respondents were looking for in a new superintendent were “builds school and community relations” and “effectively manages district revenues.”

Among the top challenges and “areas for improvement” for the district were improvements to the high school, communication between schools and parents and addressing poverty and embracing diversity.

“His experience with improving student achievement, enriching culture and climate, and drawing students to the Charles City Community School District was attractive to the board of education and stakeholders who took part in the interviews,” Walker said about Fisher.

Grundmeyer Leader Search coordinated the search process. In April, the school board agreed to establish and publish a salary range for the new superintendent, which was listed at $150,000 to $170,000. The district took applications for a new superintendent until April 29.

Grundmeyer presented all of the candidates to the board on Monday, May 7, in closed session. Based on application materials, community survey results, objective ratings, reference calls, and board discussion, the board chose seven semifinalists. The board held 30-minute screening interviews with the semifinalists on Thursday, May 10, and narrowed the pool down to three finalists. The other two finalists for the superintendent job were Erik Anderson from Cedar Rapids Prairie and Dr. Tim Cronin from Central City.

“I’m very excited and very pleased,” said school board member Robin Macomber about the selection. “We had extraordinary candidates to choose from.”

She said that she thought Grundmeyer had done an excellent job of compiling the data on the various candidates, and added that Fisher’s communication skills set him apart from the other candidates, as well as “his enthusiasm, his passion for education and for becoming a part of this community.”

The stakeholder interview teams were made up of teachers, support staff, parents and community members — as well as students. There were two groups with 19 members each, and the groups were shuffled and mixed, so the candidates wouldn’t be able to say one thing to a group of teachers and another thing to a group of parents, because both teachers and parents were in each group.

“It was a very well-rounded group of people from a lot of different avenues,” said Macomber.

The three candidates also interviewed with administrative staff and with school board members. Each interview lasted about an hour, so the three candidates went through about four hours of interviews on Monday.

One of the first tasks for the new superintendent will be to take part in the interview process for a new Charles City High School principal. Principal Josh Johnson announced earlier this month that he has accepted an administrative position with the Central Rivers Area Education Agency. He will resign his position with the Charles City Community School District effective June 30.