{"id":1945,"date":"2018-12-15T18:30:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-15T15:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=1945"},"modified":"2018-12-15T18:30:12","modified_gmt":"2018-12-15T15:30:12","slug":"outgoing-hamtramck-schools-superintendent-tom-niczay-hails-districts-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/outgoing-hamtramck-schools-superintendent-tom-niczay-hails-districts-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Outgoing Hamtramck Schools\u2019 superintendent Tom Niczay hails district\u2019s progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Yemeni American News<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

After four decades of working in the district, Niczay will be leaving his post at the end of the school year. Speaking to the Yemeni American News, Niczay pledged to still help the schools and his successor. At 65 years old, he said he promised his family to move forward.
\n\u201cI will work hand-in-hand with the new person that comes in… I\u2019m not leaving Hamtramck but it is time to relieve myself from the day-to-day operations of the city at the end of June,\u201d Niczay said.
\nThe district has managed to maintain academic standards, as more students whose primary language is not English, including thousands of Yemeni immigrants, joined the schools.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have any schools with academic concerns. Of course, we want to do better… we are making very good progress and that\u2019s no small thing,\u201d Niczay said.
\nConcerns were raised last month about Hamtramck\u2019s water after the city issued an advisory because elevated lead levels were found in two homes.
\nNiczay said the schools have already communicated to the community that the schools\u2019 water, which is regularly tested, is safe.
\nThe schools are also encouraging parents to test their water at home for free through the city of Hamtramck.
\n\u201cBut also on the bigger picture, we\u2019re still concerned about the homes,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to say the water is lead-free in the school system, but if a child goes home and there is lead in the faucet in the kitchen that\u2019s not good, so we\u2019re encouraging every family to make sure there is an opportunity to get the water tested for free through the city of Hamtramck.\u201d
\nNiczay highlighted a $900,000 project in partnership with Detroit City Football Club to renovate Keyworth Stadium, which is owned by the schools. Detroit City FC has adopted the stadium as its home.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re very excited by it, and once the masterplan is developed and secured then the next job is to make sure that we get the funding to implement whatever is in the masterplan, whatever the community wants whether they want soccer, walking paths, bike paths… the city of Hamtramck and Kathy Angerer, the City Council and the School Board are working in partnership for this to happen,\u201d Niczay said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Great guy\u2019<\/strong>
\nHamtramck School Board Trustee, Moortadha Obaid, said it was \u201creally sad\u201d that Niczay is leaving the job, he lauded the superintendent as a \u201cgreat guy\u201d. Obaid credited Niczay for steering the schools to a financially healthy position after the district was in deficit.
\n\u201cTom had worked hard to bring a lot of good things to the district and to the city,\u201d Obaid said. \u201cI\u2019ll give you an example which is DCFC, the soccer club. Tom helped bring them to Hamtramck. The city is active. A lot of people come and see the city and that brings potential to Hamtramck and even for business owners they are very happy with these developments.\u201d
\nObaid also praised Niczay for working with the city council and community organizations to renovate parks and community centers.<\/p>\n

\u2018Leads with his heart\u2019<\/strong>
\nJaleelah Hassan Ahmed, English Language Development director at Hamtramck Public Schools, said Niczay \u201cleads with his heart\u201d.
\n\u201cIn the past three years that I\u2019ve been in this district it\u2019s been an honor to work with him and for him, and to learn so many things from him and his leadership style,\u201d she told YAN.
\nShe said the superintendent understands the needs and talent of people in the district.
\n\u201cIt was bittersweet,\u201d she said of Niczay\u2019s retirement. \u201cI say that because the commitment and dedication that Mr. Niczay has devoted for our district is to be applauded and no one deserves to retire and seeing the next journey more than he does. But it was very difficult because as I started to learn and work on a variety of different projects with him and just getting acquainted with his leadership style and getting so much done, it was hard to learn that you know someone else will take his place.\u201d
\nAhmed hopes that Niczay\u2019s successor will lead with the same passion.
\n\u201cWe have a district where parents are committed to their children\u2019s education. At the same time, it\u2019s a high-poverty district, so a person that has empathy and understands the needs in our district and understands how to meet those needs – that would be a huge quality that they would have to fill in his big shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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