Friday, December 17, 1999
Fairfield schools head to retire
Wiedenmann to step down Jan. 1, 2001
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
FAIRFIELD — Charles Wiedenmann is going to step down as superintendent of the Fairfield City Schools at the end of next year. Board members said they were disappointed by the decision but praised his accomplishments.
Mr. Wiedenmann announced Thursday that he would retire effective Jan. 1, 2001. He said he would begin looking for a new job next summer.
“It's an economic decision to retire and find another ca reer,” said Mr. Wiedenmann, 50, who has one grown daughter and five school-age children. “If all my children decide to go to a private college I'm facing paying $582,000 over the next 15 years. I don't know where I'll work or if I'll stay in education.”
Mr. Wiedenmann said he decided to announce his retirement now to give the Fairfield Board of Education ample time to find a new superintendent.
He also plans on working on initiatives before he leaves. Those include looking at the starting time of the freshman and senior high schools, developing a new middle school schedule, preparing a technology plan, and implementing the newly completed strategic plan.
School board member Anne Crone, who was on the board that hired Mr. Wiedenmann seven years ago, was disappointed.
“People have no idea what we'll be missing until he's gone. He has a quiet unassum ing way of working that is going to be sorely missed. It's going to be awful to lose him. Now we just have to go forward and find someone who can fill his shoes.”
Mrs. Crone said the district had been in disarray and the community upset with the schools when former superintendent Larry Rodenberger departed. Today, the district is thriving, test scores are beginning to rise and employee negotiations under interest-based bargaining — introduced by Mr. Wiedenmann — are much smoother.
“I think he came into a situation that was a passionate, angry, volatile situation with a lot of unrest,” Mrs. Crone said. “He spent the first two years trying to patch holes. He's made us whole again.”
Any accomplishments made during his tenure, Mr. Wiedenmann said, resulted from a team effort.
“I have accomplished nothing. We have accomplished a lot,” Mr. Wiedenmann said.
Board member Mike Oler, who also was on the board that hired Mr. Wiedenmann, said: “He's brought good leadership to the district. We've seen changes and he's been at the helm, steering a good course. You know where you stand on issues with Charlie. He's very upfront and honest.”
Under Mr. Wiedenmann's leadership, the district passed a bond issue that paid for a new high school and East Elementary School. Kindergarten classes were consolidated into an early childhood center and the district pulled fifth-graders from the elementary schools and sixth-graders from the middle school to form an intermediate school. Two permanent improvement levies were renewed and one, 2-mill operating levy passed.
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