AU master's degree graduate named superintendent of Wilmington City Schools

Tim Dettwiller had never considered earning a school administrator license until administrators at Madison-Plains Local Schools in London, Ohio, suggested it.

“I was the school treasurer and helped them on their facility improvement process, and they liked what I did so much that they asked me to get my superintendent’s license,” said Dettwiller, who eventually became the school district’s superintendent for four years, followed by four years as superintendent of Fairfield Local Schools in Leesburg, Ohio.

Dettwiller will officially start another superintendent job on Aug. 1 for Wilmington City Schools in southwest Ohio on an interim basis for one year.

While he has Madison-Plains Local Schools to thank for steering him toward being a school superintendent, Ashland University helped it become a reality.

Because he was familiar with AU since Madison-Plains used the university for professional development, Dettwiller said Ashland seemed like the best choice and he liked its hybrid program that allowed him to meet the instructors with in-person classes at its Columbus campus and to still successfully do his job with the online courses.

“I appreciate everything Ashland has done for me,” said Dettwiller, who not only earned his superintendent’s license from AU, but also a master’s in educational leadership in 2014. “It has paid off professionally and personally.”

Since he already worked many years in schools as a treasurer for Madison-Plains Local Schools and Springboro Community City Schools before that, Dettwiller said hearing superintendents’ perspectives through his AU classes has proved invaluable. Many of the courses were taught by current or retired superintendents.

Building successful relationships also has been valuable information he gained from AU.

This month, he plans to start building relationships in Wilmington by meeting with the outgoing superintendent, treasurer and others in the district office, and looks forward to eventually doing the same with teachers and other employees, students and parents in the district.

Wilmington is excited about the wealth of leadership experience and strong commitment to student success Dettwiller brings to the district, according to an article on its website announcing Dettwiller’s hiring.

“We are proud of the strides we have made in the district and look forward to working with him to continue our momentum while enhancing our efforts to provide exceptional opportunities for all,” Wilmington School Board President Marty Beaugard Sr. is quoted as saying.

The challenges of improving Wilmington’s struggling early literacy program, absenteeism problem and low graduation rates are some of the things that interested him in the job, Dettwiller said.

“They have some unique challenges to overcome,” he said. “My skill-sets and my career has been helping rebuild programs, so it is a good match for me.”

Being a 1987 Wilmington College graduate also gives him some familiarity with the area. In addition to earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting, Dettwiller also wrestled for Wilmington College, coached the Wilmington City Schools junior high program for one year while in college and lives in Highland County, a half hour away.

“One of the board members is the son of someone I wrestled with in college,” said Dettwiller, who served with the Auditor of State of Ohio as deputy auditor, auditor in charge and auditor from 1987 to 1999 before transitioning into education.

His extensive career in education includes his recent position as the ACCESS director of Highland County Workforce Development with the Southern Ohio Educational Service Center since 2022, and he hopes it continues beyond this next school year as interim superintendent.

“I look at the interim as an engagement. If we both like each other and everything works out, then we’ll get married,” said Dettwiller, who has been married for 37 years to a retired elementary teacher and has four adult children, one who is an assistant principal at a school district near Chillicothe, Ohio.

In working toward that goal of turning his “engagement” to Wilmington into a “marriage,” Dettwiller said he will continue to use what he learned from Ashland University.

“Ashland is well respected everywhere I’ve gone, and I learned a lot from Ashland,” he said.