Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano School District added two people to its administrative team this week on the heels of promoting another administrator.
Karen Smith, who served as principal at Olga Brener Intermediate School for eight years, was promoted to district pupil services director in June. She replaces Lori Smits, who left to take a job directing special education in the Hortonville School District.
Taking Smith’s place at Olga Brener is Terry Schultz, who worked for 21 years in the Clintonville School District but spent the last year working in Oshkosh.
The district also promoted Jessie Hanssen, previously a math teacher at Shawano Community High School, to be the district’s at-risk coordinator and executive director for LEADS Charter School. Gereon Methner, who filled the post for one year, left for a position in the Gibraltar School District.
Superintendent Gary Cumberland said Thursday that there are very few educators in the state certified to be an administrator for pupil services. Smith was the only one in the district with the certification, so Cumberland asked her to fill the post.
He said the process of recruiting additional candidates would have taken time, and a newcomer would have to deal with a learning curve.
“I wasn’t sure of the quality that I might find (recruiting a director from outside), and if I did, it would be a small number of people,” Cumberland said. “I knew Karen had always aspired to be a pupil services director, so I asked her about it.”
Smith spent much of her career as a special education teacher, but she was initially unsure about leaving her principal post, she said. Besides the special education program, Smith will oversee the district’s guidance counselors, psychologists, homeless coordinators, school nurses and English language learner specialists, among other services.
“I’m going to miss the (Brener) staff, because I was blessed with the best staff I ever worked with,” Smith said. “The level of students I worked with, they still have an excitement for learning and still look up to the adults.
“This was a very hard decision for me to make. I never thought I’d leave Brener, but I’ll be helping with all the buildings.”
Cumberland was only expecting 30 applicants for the principal post but received 66. Six finalists were brought in for interviews. The hiring committee struggled with three excellent candidates before ultimately deciding on Schultz, Cumberland said.
“One of Terry’s biggest strengths is that she’s got a strong background in curriculum and instruction; she did that for a while in Clintonville as an instructional coach,” Cumberland said. “She’s got a lot of energy, and you need energy at the elementary level. She’s very personable, which means she should be very cooperative with the staff.”
Schultz is eager to get into her new role. She has lived in northeast Wisconsin all of her life and currently resides in Embarrass.
“Education itself in this day and age has challenges, and I see our challenges as very doable,” Schultz said. “It will take me time to get to know people and to know the staff of Brener, but once those initial relationships are developed, we’ll look at ways to improve ourselves.”
Besides teaching math and being an instructional coach at the middle and high school levels, Hanssen served as the summer school coordinator at Hillcrest Primary School this year, giving her administrative experience.
Cumberland said four applicants were interviewed before Hanssen was promoted.
“When the charter school started, she was one of the first parents on the board,” Cumberland said. “She has a passion for at-risk students and wants to help them be successful.”
Hanssen could not be reached for comment.
Smith will earn $95,000 as pupil services director. Schultz’s salary will be $80,000; Hanssen’s will be $70,000.