BRUCE TAPIO

NORWAY — Norway-Vulcan Area Schools will have several significant changes in administration for the coming school year — and a major realignment in how it groups its grades.

The school board in July decided to hire Bruce Tapio as the permanent replacement for Lou Steigerwald, who retired June 30.

And Rico Meneghini will step away after 24 years as the district’s early kindergarten through eighth grade principal.

Meneghini submitted his resignation July 23 but agreed to remain with the district until another principal can be hired, Tapio said this week.

Meneghini is leaving to become elementary/middle school principal for the School District of Wausaukee, Wis., in Marinette County.

He said in a text message this week he looks forward to making a similar impact in the Wausaukee school district as he has had in NVS, while remaining in the Norway-Vulcan community.

But his decision means the district will have new people for superintendent and both principals, with the turnover coming in just the past few months.

The school board earlier this year had selected Joe Tinti, the high school principal, to take over when Steigerwald retired June 30. But Tinti later accepted a job with the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District, leaving the superintendent position again open.

The board in June voted to hire Tapio as interim superintendent through Aug. 22. They removed the interim tag in mid-July.

Tapio has nine years of experience as a junior/senior high school principal, including four as superintendent/high school principal at North Central Area Schools before retiring in 2019. He started as an industrial arts teacher at North Central Junior/Senior High School in 2005 and has also worked as woodshop instructor at Kingsford middle and high schools.

In a message to residents that was posted on the district’s website, Tapio also outlined plans this fall to consolidate its three internal school designation into two.

Tapio said the district in the past had pre-K through fifth grade as elementary, sixth through eighth as middle school and ninth through 12th grades as high school.

With school board approval, the district will transition to Norway-Vulcan Elementary School being pre-K through sixth grade and Norway Junior/Senior High School having seventh through 12th grades.

“The enrollment in the district does not necessitate a singular middle school,” Tapio explained.

The district this past school year had a “blended” enrollment of 572 from preK to 12th grade, he said.

The elementary grades now will be on the first floor of the district’s facility in Norway and the junior/senior high school classes on the upper level, Tapio said.

In his message, Tapio stressed the district is scheduling students in the appropriate classes, “ensuring certified teachers are in front of your student and the logistics and placement of teachers in their classrooms.”

He added, “We are planning the necessary student ‘orientation’ program to help incoming seventh grades and freshmen.”

Tony Adams has been named as principal for the new junior/senior high school, along with being athletic director. Thursday, Tapio said Tony Mendina, formerly a middle/high school math and science teacher, would become the new elementary school principal.

The realignment came out of a collaborative effort by a planning group made up of teachers, administrators and board members, with the board’s complete backing, Tapio said. That group will continue to meet as the district moves forward.

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.