School: Granton - District Admin. Leaving Position (Family Life - 2023)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Kuchta

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 2/22/2023

Granton-District Admin. Leaving Position (Family Life - 2023)

Granton district administrator leaving position for family life

James Kuchta, the district administrator for the Granton Area School District, has announced he will not seek to renew his contract, and will move into retirement.

“I started teaching in 1987,’ Kuchta said, “36 years ago and served as a teacher, coach, principal and district administrator.

“Granton was in need of a district administrator in August 2020 and asked me to serve as their interim district administrator that year.

“I served 3 years as District Administrator at Granton. In total, in my career I was a teacher for 8 years, principal for 16 years and superintendent for 11 years.”

Kuchta felt that, after three years, it was time for someone else to lead the district.

“During the past three years,” Kuchta said, “the district faced the same challenges as all schools navigating the impacts of the pandemic, loss of student learning and mental health issues.

“There is also a lack of highly qualified/certified staff in education and in many roles of support staff as in all schools statewide and nationwide.”

The issues that have faced the school district have also come with some silver linings, like when the district was awarded a grant for brand new electric school buses, a long process with aspects still being decided at board meetings, such as where the charging stations will go.

However, silver linings come with grey clouds, and even the grant came with both public curiosity and concern, which Kuchta worked to communicate with the public at school board meetings.

“The board has a desire to seek a long-term district administrator,” Kuchta said, explaining his decision. “I look forward to being a grandparent to my grandchildren and spending more time with them and my whole family.

“What I will miss about the position most is the smiling faces and hugs from the students and seeing great teaching and learning from excellent educators.”