When Jamie Kraatz was an elementary student, she never dreamed of becoming a teacher, much less a superintendent.
In fact, in her family, few had even finished high school.
Now she’s making her public debut in the executive chair when the STCS Board of Education meets at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, at Arrowwood Conference Center.
“Education can change someone’s entire life path,” Kraatz notes. “I was among the first in my family to graduate from high school and the only one to move ahead farther than that, all the time thinking that college was for other people, not for people like me.”
A result of her experiences is that she always will emphasize a personal “student-centered” focus in all aspects, from advanced placement to remedial reading, to support for college that was lacking during her own childhood.
Trustees promoted her in November over outside candidates, after Bruce Martin retired, based on her performance over five years as director of curriculum and instruction. Her credentials include a bachelor’s from Saginaw Valley State and a master’s from Central Michigan.
She says her expanded priorities now will go beyond maintaining the classroom activities, to maintaining the classrooms themselves. The township’s eight schools are in the 50-year-old age range and beyond, and a first major millage bond proposal last spring was defeated overwhelmingly by opponents.
She saw the depth of a defeat with only 23 percent support, less than one in four, and still pursued the top job. After all, major personal hurdles are nothing new.
Path to progress
Jamie’s father passed away when she was in kindergarten, and she grew up in a single-parent home for most of her childhood.
In sixth grade, she describes having a negative experience with a teacher. She is concise, “not a storyteller,” and simply summarizes that she said the teacher made her feel judged as “not capable,” deflating any self-confidence she needed as a young girl.
That’s when she decided she wanted to become a school teacher herself, to provide better and much more positive encounters for pupils than those memories she keeps.
She began her career in an elementary classroom in her hometown, Standish, and then made her big move for an instructional administrative post in nearby AuGres. Then her SVSU connections led her to Saginaw Township, where she is establishing family roots. Husband Kent Kraatz, still noted in Standish-Sterling sports lore, is assistant principal at Heritage High, where one son is currently a student Another is enrolled at SVSU, and a third graduated from West Point and is enlisted in the Army.
Aim for involvement
Kraatz wants to focus on much more community involvement in the township schools. The STCS millage team, including a unanimous school board, was not surprised that the May referendum bit the dust. They recognize the inflationary sticker shock of a $242.9 million upgrade, including a new Heritage. Their trepidation in moving ahead is the margin of defeat.
Instead of second-guessing the infamous low of 23 percent in favor, the new superintendent looks at total voter turnout of a mere 33 percent and how the community can be more engaged with their local school district, which she describes as “the hub” of the community.
Kraatz says, “That is extremely low voter turnout for the township. People need to better understand where our facilities are in terms of age, what’s needed as we progress. We will continue building relationships, and we will look for ways to involve the residents more in the schools, whether they have children attending or not.”
A theme in last spring’s millage campaign was building safety during an era of mass shootings. With her curriculum background, the new superintendent will emphasize a need for facilities to house the ever-growing course offerings.
Up next for the superintendent and district is Feb. 27, when a renewal of separate millage funds to support operations is on the township ballot. The referendum is for the renewal of a non-homestead 18 mills, which means a continuation of a levy only on businesses and rental properties, not primary residences. That’s on top of the 6 mills that everyone pays to the state school aid fund under Proposal A reforms of 1994.
Non-homestead approval in the township has been routine in past decades, and school officials aim to ensure that voters realize this is routine business, not related to any revised building improvement plans. Those will come soon enough, another tall challenge for Jamie Kraatz in her unexpected life’s calling.
