ELY – Superintendent Erik Erie submitted his resignation to the Ely school board this week. Erie, who started his part-time tenure at ISD 696 in the fall of 2019, will leave his post at the end of January.
School board chair Ray Marsnik is taking steps to immediately fill the upcoming vacancy. He told board members Monday night that he was already in contact with a retired school administrator about filling the post on an interim basis until a more permanent replacement can be hired.
Erie made his intentions known on Nov. 8 in a closed portion of a school board meeting in which board members conducted a mid-year performance evaluation.
“I communicated my desire to make a change and resign my position with the district as early as Jan. 30, 2022,” he wrote in a letter made public on Monday. “I also let you know that I would be willing to stay on later than that date to allow the district more time to find a replacement, but not intending to go beyond June 30, 2022.”
He added, “The reason I feel the need to make a change at this time is personal and related to health issues that are impacting my well-being.”
Erie started with ISD 696 in the summer of 2019 on an interim basis and worked hand-in-hand with former superintendent Kevin Abrahamson until he could attain his superintendent’s license. Erie was hired to the part-time position in the fall of 2019. He renewed his contract for a two-year term in the summer of 2020.
Marsnik presented a summary of Erie’s performance evaluation conducted last month. The summary was somewhat vague and lacked details of what was discussed at the closed session.
“The board recognized the fact that the district has gone through some difficult times over the past year and Superintendent Erie was faced with tough challenges and difficult challenges. The evaluation did not only look at past performance, but also looked at ways to improve future performance and communicating future expectations.”
The performance evaluation summary noted that a goals-based evaluation process was used and that the goals set for Erie last July were evaluated and discussed:
“Improving organizational skills, timely decision making, oversight and awareness of the district’s budget, delegating responsibility to employees ,and timely completion of duties, projects and tasks were the areas discussed and evaluated.”
The evaluation summary continued, “The board found Superintendent Erie to be very personable and open to discussion. He is a hard worker who has kept our building and renovation project moving forward and on schedule. He is someone who is knowledgeable, committed and passionate about education.”
During his superintendent’s report at the Monday night meeting Erie said, “I would like to thank the school board for being supportive of me in this position and giving me this great opportunity. You put a lot of trust in me, and I want to thank you for that. The employees have been very welcoming, as has the community. Ely is certainly something very special.”
Erie was on the job just six months before the world of education was turned on its head with the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 immediately rose to the top of his to-do list as K-12 students in Ely transitioned from in-person learning to hybrid and distance learning educational models.
“It’s taken a lot of collaboration, and we truly have accomplished a lot,” he said.
At the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, Erie took the full brunt of criticism from a small but vocally vicious anti-face-masking group in the community who vilified Erie for following science and the recommendations of the medical community in re-instating the mask requirement to keep students safe within the walls of the Ely school campus.
“Our employees have really been tremendous through this whole COVID process,” he said.
During his brief time at the helm of ISD 696, Erie was handed the reins of continuing to develop a school facility renovation project that resulted in the successful passing of a bonding referendum that helped fund the $20 million project. He will leave his post before that vision is realized with the opening of the new school addition in the fall of 2022.
Erie touched on his resignation letter that mentioned his own health concerns.
“There is no serious overriding health concern right now, other than a lot of weight gain from all the time I spend in the car,” he said. “I do want to be able to enjoy the relatively good health that I have right now.”
He stressed that he will help the district in transitioning to new leadership.
“I will be flexible to what your needs are moving forward,” Erie said.