Hamtramck Public Schools continue on road to success

A couple of weeks ago the public school district held its annual “State of the District” address.
Once again, the district had good news to report: It is financially sound, and there are a number of interesting services and projects coming up.
We are not surprised.
School Superintendent Tom Niczay has been at the helm for 11 years and has steered the district out from a huge budget deficit to one where the district has a $9 million surplus.
At the same time, his administration has adopted new teaching programs to better serve our students.
Mr. Niczay will be the first to tell you that the district’s success rests with his administrators and teachers.
And he is right.
But as the old saying goes, “the buck stops here.”
In other words, the person at the top gets blamed if things go bad and gets praise when things go right.
Mr. Niczay is retiring at the end of the school year this June. He has worked in the district for 40 years.
Before he took over the district, there was one disastrous superintendent after another.
For several years, the district wallowed in chaos and division.
We bring this up now because the school board is seeking his replacement. This is no ordinary job.
We can’t stress enough that applicants have to be thoroughly vetted – which is something that previous boards failed to do.
Despite the district’s success, Hamtramck has many challenges, and it requires a superintendent to put in extra hours.
The next person has to actually want this challenge.
Although Mr. Niczay plans to leave by the end of June, there is no rush to find a replacement.
In the meantime, rest assured the district is in good hands.

March 15, 2019

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