WHITEHOUSE, Ohio — In 2003, Jim Fritz joined the Anthony Wayne community. He began as an administrator before acting as superintendent for fourteen years.
Now two decades later, he's made the choice to move on from the district.
"It's been a great place for my kids to grow up, and it's been a great place as an educator to work with the community, to work with the staff here who is excellent, to do what we do day in and day out," Fritz said.
Now it's time for a new challenge as the superintendent of Oregon City Schools and he's not the only one switching things up.
Districts like Fostoria, Washington Local and more are in the midst of a transitional period too. Fritz explained that the reason for this is sometimes the pressure of the job can be too much.
"Any of our jobs in education are difficult at times and there's been a lot of pressure put on public education and education in general to do many things for the communities that they're serving from the state level to the federal," Fritz said.
During his time, Fritz said he's proud of the work that the office has been able to accomplish.
"The district is known for its community, it's known for the great school system that we have here and I've been a part of that for those years," Fritz said. "Our results show that as we've grown with our students as a district, we've been able to do a lot of great things for them."
Staff at Anthony Wayne may be sad to see him go but said Fritz will do well in Oregon. Kerri Johnson is the treasurer for the district and she's worked with Fritz for many years.
"I think the community will receive him well and they will be pleased with their choice as superintendent," Johnson said. "Most (people) are disappointed. They think it's sad. They're sad for Anthony Wayne, they're happy for Oregon but sad for Anthony Wayne."
Rebecca Schwan, the communications specialist for the district, shared a similar sentiment.
"I'll just miss working with him. He's been a great leader and a great representative of this community and I'm sure he'll carry that with him when he goes, but we're certainly disappointed to see him go," Schwan said. "He doesn't lead from a corner office."
Fritz said he's excited to continue serving the educational community.
"It's bittersweet. Anytime you leave a place that you've been for a long period of time, you make a lot of good friends and relationships along the way. My educational purpose is to make sure our students are future-ready, whether it's here or whether it's at Oregon," Fritz said. "I feel proud of the work that we did, even through turbulent times. There's opportunities for us to grow as a district and really focus in on what we needed to do for our kids to be successful."