New Wisconsin Heights District Administrator eager to help

Craig Gerlach’s resume reads like a kind of Murderers’ Row of Wisconsin school district administrators, with his first administrative experience coming in Tomah School District in 1989. Fast forward six new school districts and six jobs and Gerlach finds himself at Wisconsin Heights, as an interim District Administrator—that word “interim” a key for a man who has made a career turn towards temporary work at the organizational level. But “temporary” work does not translate into inferior, and Gerlach’s packed resume shows that. He lists employment at eight school districts; seven with recognizable names within the state and sometimes close to Wisconsin Heights. According to Board President Barb Statz, she and her colleagues were impressed by Gerlach right off the bat. “After conducting a phone interview, it was clear that [Gerlach’s] experience and enthusiasm about working at Heights set him apart from the rest of the applicant pool,” said Statz. “The board was enthused and optimistic about our [original] selected candidate,” she explained. “I worked with him and legal counsel over the course of a few days on contract negotiations, all discussions suggesting we’d end up with an agreed upon contract. At the final hour, he pulled out. There wasn’t a definite answer, other than…I quote loosely….’personal reasons convincing him that it wasn’t optimal timing for him to accept the position.’” Statz continued, “Due to the crunched timeline, we didn’t want to be in a position of settling and choosing a candidate that wasn’t the best fit for our district.” The district posted the interim position and had a few applicants, but it was clear that Gerlach was the one.  “He met with the entire Board and after an engaging discussion we excitedly reached a unanimous consensus on offering him the position.” Gerlach now has a few months under his belt at Wisconsin Heights, and the Star News reached out to him and did a quick interview.   1. Tell me about your family.   Married for 36 years to wife Janice. She is a recently retired school counselor. Two kids: Jordan - she just graduated from Northwestern Law school. Son, Lucas - he just graduated from UW.   2. If you find yourself with a few hours free on a weekend, what are you most likely to do?   Go for a boat ride, take a hike, snowshoe, a bike ride, generally be outside year round. I have a hunting cabin in Sparta that I frequent in the fall.   3. Do you have one obsessive hobby, or many hobbies, or something in between?   See question #2.   4. What is your “work” drink; that is, what do you drink at work during the day?   Coffee all day!   5. What does an “Interim District Administrator” do, exactly?   Serve the school board in the absence of a regular hire superintendent. It is really the same as a regular superintendent, except that it is for a limited period of time. In my case it is for a year. That said I will focus on more short term issues than long term, i.e. keep the district moving forward and put it into a position where they will be successful hiring a superintendent for the ‘24-‘25 school year.   6. Why did you choose Wisconsin Heights to work for?   Heights is in a beautiful location and quite frankly needs some help. So why not Heights? It’s location close to Madison for my wife and I will provide for a great year of enjoyment. I am honored to serve the educational community of Wisconsin Heights!