Administrator Kortemeyer divides time between Springville and Linn-Mar districts

Amy Kortemeyer is forcing two Eastern Iowa school districts to learn to share.

Starting her seventh year as director of elementary teaching and learning for the Linn-Mar Community School District, Kortemeyer added another title in July - superintendent.

On July 1, she became the head administrator in the Springville Community School District. During the school board's Feb. 19 meeting, members approved hiring Kortemeyer at half time. She is taking over for Interim Superintendent Brian Ney, whose yearlong term closed on June 30.

'I'm just really excited to have this opportunity to be here. People have been so incredibly helpful,” Kortemeyer said. 'This is just an awesome opportunity to see all of the workings from prekindergarten through 12th grade to understand what that looks like in the state of Iowa. The new learning that comes along with the role is invigorating to me.”

Springville will pay Linn-Mar for 50 percent of Kortemeyer's salary and benefits as well as an additional $10,000, retirement and taxes.

Linn-Mar Superintendent Katie Mulholland expressed enthusiasm about the arrangement.

'Amy continues to be an excellent leader for us and she will continue to do the same for Springville,” Mulholland said. 'We're hopeful that everything will work out. Amy will probably put in twice as long days doing two leadership positions. Springville is confident and so are we that she's up to it.”

Kortemeyer intended to devote full days to each district instead of going back and forth, but so far that hasn't been how things proceeded.

'I'm going to of course try to give both districts equal time and understand there's going to be certain things that crop up over the course of the week or month that change or alter my schedule,” Kortemeyer said. 'I'll make it right over a short period of time so that I'm giving myself to both districts at an equal level.”

Mulholland said that Linn-Mar administrators are looking to hire a teacher on special assignment to help assume some of Kortemeyer's workload.

Springville and Linn-Mar are neighboring districts - their respective central offices are only 9.5 miles apart - but Kortemeyer acknowledged that they're very different. According to Iowa Department of Education data, Linn-Mar's certified enrollment is forecast to balloon to 7,144.9 in 2018-19 while Springville's is set to fall to 300.2. That same data shows that in 2013-14, Linn-Mar's certified enrollment was 6,943 and Springville's was 373.1.

'I would say the roles are pretty different,” Kortemeyer said of her work. 'At Linn-Mar, there's several people who are experts in their various areas to help support the school district. In Springville, you have a limited amount of people doing the work. A lot of people wearing a lot of hats at Springville.”

Kortemeyer grew up in Lisbon, where her family still lives, and she said she's relying on that rural knowledge in her new role. Potential overlap could benefit both districts, she said.

'I think with any job, you come in (and) you want to absorb as much especially in that first year to see how things operate,” she said. 'My learning in one role will help me with the elementary principal here.”

Kortemeyer's contract with Springville is for one year but she has no plans to leave Linn-Mar, nor does she expect her role to expand to full time in Springville.

'I would say that unless we could get enrollment turned to the positive side, and we've seen some stability the last couple of years, I would guess as long as that says the same I'd guess we'd see this configuration for some time,” Kortemeyer said.

l Comments: (319) 398-8273; meryn.fluker@thegazette.com