Superintendent Heather Luoto focuses on academics, attendance

By Carol Stiffler

Engadine Consolidated Schools is now under the leadership of new Superintendent Heather Luoto, a longtime employee who once taught science, and now studies the science of school. Three months into the position, she says she’s still learning her role in a school that feels like home.

“A benefit is having been in the district since 1997, for the most part,” she said. “I didn’t intend to become the superintendent per se – it wasn’t what I aspired to be when I went into education – but just kind of evolved and I want to support the district and see it thrive and have more rigor in our academics. That’s a major task, I think.”

Luoto is handling strategic and administrative duties while Principal Joe Brownson manages the students. She misses having more interaction with students, so she travels the hallways at times to chat with them or even read books to them right in the hallway.

She’s not a silly or perky leader; Luoto describes herself as “serious”.

“I would say I’m a supportive leader,” she said. “I try to make sure that staff have what they need to do their job. And if they’re struggling in an area, we find support for them so that they can be successful, so that they can take care of the children and provide a quality education to them.”

Luoto emphasizes regular student attendance and values academic effort.

“I believe in high-quality instruction for every student every day,” she said. “That is part of our school improvement process. That is a goal.”

Luoto had two children graduate from Engadine schools and knows what it’s like to have a student there. She also lives in Engadine.

Enrollment at Engadine continues to be strong, thanks to Schools of Choice practically doubling the district’s student population. It adds another element too: A lot of students at Engadine come from families the district doesn’t know well. Luoto hopes those families, many of which are from the Tahquamenon Area Schools district, will be present at activities and join in on family night events.

There’s another, bigger hurdle on her plate: The budget. At this time, spending projections indicate the district may close the fiscal year with hardly any funds left over. The original projection from auditors was that the district would have a $0 balance at the end of this school year.

The budget squeeze is the product of rising costs, reductions in categorical funding from the state, and cuts in federal funds. Staff salaries went up by 3% – not enough to keep up with the cost of living, but another source of pressure on the budget.

With time to make alterations to the planned spending, Luoto says the projection is improving slightly but it’s still an uncomfortable situation.

“We cannot operate as we were,” she said. “The state requires you to have a good fund balance, preferably around 5% [of the budget total].”

Luoto and the Engadine Consolidated Schools Board of Education are exploring a variety of options, in addition to curbing spending wherever possible. There’s been talk of harvesting timber from the school forest and the potential for auctioning off surplus equipment. They do not want to cut costs in ways that will negatively impact students.

“With a very tiny district and not a lot of fat, per se, we already run pretty efficiently,” Luoto said.

The community can make suggestions, too.

“We welcome ideas,” she said. “The district did do fundraisers when our balance was very low in the past.”

While tackling the budget, Luoto and her team will continue to analyze district procedures to streamline and improve them where possible.

“People don’t always like change, but we’re about systems improvement. So we will be modifying some systems to improve operations, so things run more efficiently. But I won’t be making those decisions on my own,” she said. “I’ll be doing that with my team. Because this feels like a ship that runs pretty well already.”