Halik
A familiar face in Johnson County education will fill in as Edinburgh’s interim superintendent while the search for a permanent replacement continues.
Dr. James Halik took over superintendent responsibilities on July 1 and is expected to serve most of the school year. The school board is hoping to hire a permanent superintendent by spring break, Halik said.
Edinburgh Community School Corp. was left without a superintendent earlier this summer after Ron Ross announced he had accepted a position as the South Dearborn Community School Corp. superintendent.
Halik is celebrating his 50th year in education this year, 26 of which have been spent as superintendent of various schools including Franklin Community School Corp. from 1994 to 2004.
He describes himself as a “life-long learner,” holding four bachelor’s degrees, two master’s, and a doctorate from Ball State and Indiana University.
Halik started his career as a science teacher at Perry Meridian Middle School and then moved on to Center Grove Middle School. Halik then moved up to administration as an assistant principal and then principal for several schools in Johnson County including Custer Baker Intermediate School, Center Grove Middle School, Needham Elementary School and Union Elementary School.
He has held several full-time superintendent jobs including for Franklin schools before retiring. In retirement, he’s taken on a string of interim superintendent gigs.
“A lot of my career is still right here in Johnson County,” Halik said. “I’m home grown.”
He has also been an adjunct professor for Butler University, Franklin College, University of Indianapolis and Indiana State University.
Halik is the founder of Compass-Keynote Consulting, which helps with school board development and strategic planning implementation. Through his business, Halik has worked with 249 out of 286 school corporations in the state. It was Halik’s company that helped Edinburgh school board members draft the board’s vision statement.
Even though he’s worked as an administrator for much of his career, Halik has never stopped teaching. Even outside of K-12 schools and universities, he instructed defensive driving courses with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles for 27 years. He thrives on giving a good lecture, he said.
Halik had no idea his career would keep him near home for so long. But he loves being an educator. It just works for him, he said.
He initially was seeking a career in forestry and switched to education after leading a lab for his professor one day.
“It was the college professor that steered me away from being a forest ranger/ conservation officer to being a teacher,” Halik said. “And the rest is history 50 years later.”
Halik hopes to bring a collaborative effort to Edinburgh as superintendent. He likes to include multiple perspectives and voices when making a decision, he said.
Coming to Edinburgh schools was an easy choice for Halik. The school board was genuine and wanted his family to be involved in the process. For that, it was a no-brainer, he said.
He doesn’t intend to implement anything new while at Edinburgh. His goal is to “make progress towards improvement,” and be the glue for Edinburgh schools while they search for a superintendent, he said.
“I want to be as much as a coach and a mentor and a guide on the side as I do anything,” Halik said. “Yeah, I’m leading the district, but I’m going to still be a teacher and I’m going to coach them, I’m going to mentor them and guide them through this year while they’re looking for new visionary to come.”
