Jul. 16—After two weeks in his new role as superintendent of Albert Lea Area Schools, Steven Heil has hit the ground running.
Even before his official start date of July 1, Heil made it a priority to have as smooth of a transition as possible into his new role. He could be seen in the district, learning about the district’s budget, going around town and getting to know people.
He is in the middle of what he described as his “listening and learning phase,” as he meets with staff and community members.
“It’s been fun getting to know the community,” he said, whether that be through Wind Down Wednesday or helping the district get ready for the Third of July Parade. He has also already had an administrative retreat and met with a group to interview and hire the new high school principal.
Heil, who came to the Albert Lea school district after serving as superintendent in St. James, said his first goal for the school year is to learn as much as he can. Then, he hopes to start to outline the district’s strategic priorities and help the district realign in the direction it has identified, to essentially help everyone work in the same direction.
Another goal he has is to help the district become more transparent and to increase communication.
“I want our parents and our community — I want everybody — to be able to say the district is headed in this direction, these are things they’re working on,” he said.
He was quick to learn there was a lot of Tiger pride in the community, whether that be from people who have lived in the community their whole lives or from those who are new and became a Tiger. He said he wants that pride to extend about the school district, about the education it provides and about how the district can help the community.
Heil fills an opening left after the district parted ways with former Superintendent Ron Wagner in December. Longtime Austin Superintendent David Krenz came on board to help in the interim as the district conducted a search for its new leader.
Heil encouraged both staff and community members who are interested in meeting with him to do so. He would love to hear what people say about Albert Lea and the district and about what people view as its strengths and challenges.
“A school district is as strong as the community,” he said. “Albert Lea’s a very strong community. Now it’s my goal to get the school district back up to where everybody expects it to be functioning. That’s going to be a partnership of the school district and the community. I look forward to that — in fact, I thrive on it.”
Heil has also spent time thus far in the district planning for the unknown from both the federal and state governments.
Most concerning for all school districts is Title funding, he said.
He said the district submitted its Title I, II, III and IV funding plans, of which the Title I funding carries the most money, including some funding that covers full-time employees.
He is also watching closely Minnesota’s changes for summer unemployment for teachers. He said Minnesota has decided to fund it for at least a year or two, and while that is a relief, he will be consciously watching how much that takes.
Regarding paid family medical leave, he said while he thinks the heart of the law is written for the benefit of people, what worries educators is having an educator out of the classroom for 12 to 20 weeks.
“That’s a significant amount of learning to have a substitute there,” Heil said.
Heil grew up in Rochester and has been to Albert Lea on and off over the years, starting as a youth competing in athletic events.
He said he went to Winona State for his undergraduate degree, after which he moved to Arizona and was a teacher and coach there for seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade science with a little bit of physical education, government and math as well.
He earned his master’s and doctorate from Northern Arizona University and served as a high school principal and athletic director in Arizona before moving back to Minnesota, where he has since served as a principal in Delano and most recently as superintendent with the St. James School District.
He and his wife, Katie, have five children: 22-year-old Tseh, who is a nursing student; Sonny, who goes to school for HVAC refrigeration; Savannah, who will be in 11th grade and enjoys agriculture-related activities; Torrey, who will be in ninth grade and enjoys hockey; and Soren, who will be in fifth grade and likes football, hockey and baseball.
“My whole family — everybody — is so looking forward to the move to Albert Lea,” he said.
With his own children, he has seen the benefits of both four-year schools and of working in the trades.
“So many things have changed, and the value that somebody can get from working the trades is just amazing,” he said. “Kids can do many things nowadays.”