Schirg feels Fairbanks in a good place

Fairbanks Superintendent Adham Schirg said even though leadership is changing, the school district is in good shape to handle whatever might come its way.

“I feel that Fairbanks is in a really good, stable position for a transition as an organization. So being able to look at whoever that next leader of the district is, they’re walking into an opportunity to continue to add value and grow,” he said. “That’s a credit to the board of education, that’s a credit to our teaching staff, our families, our kids, our leadership team. I mean, it’s again, bringing people together, developing trust, adding stability, those are all things that I find a lot of joy in.”

Schirg, who announced he will be leaving the district in February, said that he tried to spend the last six years building up the school and plans to take that approach and other lessons learned with him to the next job as superintendent of Rocky River City School District near Cleveland.

As a Panther

Schirg came to Fairbanks from the Worthington school district where he served as principal of Phoenix Middle School and Worthington Academy. Throughout his career in bigger systems such as Worthington and Westerville, his hometown, Schirg found that he was a builder.

“When I was hired into Fairbanks, there was some building and rebuilding and reshaping that needed to be done, and that brings me, (it) gives me a lot of juice,” Schirg said. “And I feel that we’ve done a lot of that over the last six years in a variety of ways, whether it’s academics, whether it’s our Portrait of a Panther, our mission, vision, strategic plan, facilities, like there’s been a lot of just building that brings me, you know, a lot of juice.”

Schirg witnessed a lot of large-scale discussions during his time at Fairbanks. His first autumn as superintendent was in 2019 when he took over for David Baits, the interim superintendent who filled the seat left by Bob Humble. That means Schirg’s first spring, graduation and end-of-the-year activities were in 2020, the year of COVID.

“And the one thing is like, you don’t know how you’re going to respond to crisis,” he said. “And (Marysville Superintendent) Diane Allen and I were on the phone every day talking about opening school. Like, what does hybrid look like? What have you learned?”

He was able to lead the district out of the pandemic and return to normal, but that didn’t mean those big questions stopped coming.

Growth and facility plans

Part of Schirg’s building efforts came in the form of master facility planning. He worked with the board of education to outline a process for updating the school campus by way of additions and renovations as Fairbanks looks toward an influx of residential growth, particularity on the eastern side of the district.

“So then it gets into like, we are growing and how do you manage that growth and try to be as forward thinking as you can,” Schirg said. “Really out of our Mission Vision Strategic Plan is, you go back to 2019, when the superintendent search that led to me coming to Fairbanks, the number one thing across all of the focus groups that they talked about was addressing facilities.”

Not only is there anticipation of growth, the district has a high school that was built in 1961 and a middle school built in 1978. Part of the facility plan deals with expanding and part of it deals with upkeep of those aging facilities.

Though there were two failed levy attempts at the ballot box, Schirg was able to help get an elementary addition built and add new features into the high school and middle school building such as new windows and HVAC.

“So really, at the end of the day, we’re going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $18-20 million of improvements on our campus that didn’t increase residents’ taxes, which I think is, you know, for the board to lead that, for our members of our leadership team to be a part of that planning, and our partners that are bringing that to life is just, it’s pretty exciting to be a part of, and I’m really hopeful that this will address that capacity and growth issue over the next couple of years,” Schirg said.

He added while the school is in stable shape now, district officials will have to think about things like the potential need for a high school addition in the future. He said that need would likely come around 2030 and beyond so there is time.

The Fairbanks community

Schirg said he’s glad to have been part of the Fairbanks community and hopes for its continued success into the future. He said he feels that will happen given the district’s widespread support.

Even with difficult discussions around property valuations, growth and other environmental things that are in play for schools across the state, Schirg said Fairbanks remains a very supportive community. He said those relationships will add to the district’s success.

“I just have been very thankful for my time in not just in Fairbanks, but also in Union County. It’s a special place and there’s great people that are here. And I’m very thankful for the opportunity to work alongside so many great people,” he said. “If people need support and help, I’m always there and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Fairbanks and for Union County.”

To hear Schirg talk more about his time at Fairbanks and the changing education landscape, check out the latest episode of the Marysville Journal-Tribune Podcast, available now.