Grafton administrator to be next PW-S school chief

By BILL SCHANEN IV

Ozaukee Press staff

PORT WASHINGTON - The Port Washington-Saukville School Board didn’t have to look far to find a superintendent it hopes will lead a turnaround in academic achievement and invest himself in a community yearning for stability in the highest ranks of the district’s administrators.

Michael McMahon, the director of teaching and learning for the Grafton School District and a Saukville resident, was tapped by the board last week to lead a district that has had two superintendents in the last three years.

For McMahon, 42, who joined the Grafton School District in 2015 as principal of Woodview Elementary School and has served in his current position since 2021, this is his first superintendent job.

He will take over for Interim Supt. Mel Nettesheim, who is returning to her previous job in the district as director of business services and human resources, on July 1.

The board earlier this month interviewed six top candidates to narrow the field to two finalists — McMahon and Michael Juech, assistant superintendent of operations  for the Howard-Suamico School District in Green Bay with his own connections to the area. Juech grew up in Cedarburg and his father Jim Juech was a longtime teacher at Saukville Elementary.

Last week, after McMahon and Juech spent a day in the Port-Washington-Saukville School District, which included answering questions during a community forum, and participated in final interviews that were open to the public, the board deliberated in closed session and decided unanimously that McMahon was the right person to lead the district, School Board President Brenda Fritsch said.

Although both candidates are qualified to be superintendent, Fritsch said, Juech’s strengths are in school finance while McMahon’s expertise is curriculum and instruction, which the board considers one of the most significant needs in a district that for two consecutive years has had the lowest accountability score of any district in Ozaukee County on Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction-issued report cards.

“We had two really top notch candidates and felt both were qualified,” she said. “But now, at this juncture, we’re focusing on analyzing and improving our academics, and he (McMahon) has a really strong base in this area.

“What Port-Saukville needs now is that curriculum support — someone who can coach our staff and can coach our director of teaching and learning.”

Fritsch said the board also appreciated the fact McMahon lives in the district.

“That means there’s a probability of him staying here for a while,” she said.

In an interview Monday, McMahon said one of his immediate goals is to refocus the district on its strategic plan. The drafting of that plan was the focus of Supt. Dave Watkins’ administration, but after he retired unexpectedly last school year after only two years in the district and with turnover in other key administrator posts it has not garnered much attention lately.

“I think putting the strategic plan in the forefront of the district again is very important,” McMahon, who as a district resident participated in strategic planning sessions last year, said. “Maybe it needs to be updated. Maybe it needs to be presented to the public again for more input.

“That plan drives so many important decisions.”

Among those decisions is how the district provides professional learning opportunities for its teachers, and key to that is “consistent and reliable time that teachers have to collaborate,” not only within their schools but also with colleagues in other buildings, McMahon, who has a background in educational professional development, said.

The district must also have a “guaranteed, viable curriculum,” one that is based on research and pushes students to achieve, he said.

Noting the district introduced a new reading curriculum this year, McMahon said, “We need to evaluate that,” as well as focus on math.

“Looking at the district’s report cards, they show math is an area for growth,” he said.

During his visit to the district earlier this month, McMahon said, he was told by principals that they need more support.

“They want someone to coach them and support them,” he said.

That has been a challenge in a district led by an interim superintendent who has neither a background in curriculum nor teaching experience and one that has been without a director of teaching and learning since Tammy Thompson Kapp went on paid leave in January, which is expected to extend until her retirement on June 30.

The School Board is expected to hire a new director of teaching and learning, who would begin work in the district on July 1, as early as later this month.

Another thing McMahon said he heard from staff members and district residents is that they expect the next superintendent to live in the district and invest himself not only in the school system but the community.

“The one thing I’ve heard over and over again is, ‘We want the people running our School District to live here and buy in to the community,’’’ he said.

That’s a message that McMahon said has been emphasized by his mentor, Grafton School Supt. Jeff Nelson.

“Jeff has told me how important it is to be involved in the community, so I’ll be reaching out to organizations like Rotary and Kiwanis to get involved,” McMahon said.

“The job of superintendent is not just about connecting to the School District but connecting to the community.”

McMahon and his wife Julia, a Port Washington High School graduate, have lived in Saukville for eight years. They have three children, ages 2 through 7.

“I don’t plan on going anywhere,” he said.

McMahon has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in educational professional development from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a doctorate in educational leadership from Edgewood College in Madison.

He holds director of instruction and superintendent licenses from the State of Wisconsin.

McMahon began his career in education as a fourth-grade teacher before serving in administrative roles.

Fritsch, who did not run for re-election in the April 2 election and later this month will leave a board she has served on for 12 years and led as its president since 2018, said she believes a district that has had its share of “changes and challenges” lately will be in good hands with McMahon at the helm.

“I feel really good about him, his personality, his thoughtfulness, his passion for the district, his passion for education,” she said.