Fulton Schools and Ashley Community Schools in Gratiot County have come together to select one superintendent to lead both districts.
Ryan Portenga, the current middle/high school principal at Pewamo-Westphalia Community Schools and a longtime Michigan athletic director, has been chosen for the role.
Portenga previously served as Mona Shore High School athletic director, where he worked for nine years before resigning in 2018.
When he first applied to be Fulton’s superintendent, Portenga didn’t know that he would be asked to take on dual leadership of Ashley, too.
“The posting came up originally as simply just a vacancy for the superintendent position within Fulton,” Portenga said. “It was as we were nearing the interview stage, where Mr. Hungerford, who was running the search, brought up the fact that Ashley was now also in the mix.”
Despite the change of plans, Portenga says he’s optimistic about the workload.
“I personally am very excited about the prospect to serve two different districts simultaneously,” Portenga said. “I think it's an incredible challenge, but something that I respect both communities for being proactive and trying something new and different in a day and age where education has pivoted so much over the last decade or so.”
The decision to hire Portenga follows a four-month search by the Fulton and Ashley school boards, who jointly interviewed four other candidates throughout April.
Fulton superintendent Thomas Torok and Ashley superintendent Traci Gavenda both announced their retirements earlier this year, prompting an open search to fill the positions.
Because of their small sizes – with 552 students enrolled at Fulton and 213 at Ashley in 2025 – and previous collaborations for programs like athletics and robotics, Fulton and Ashley ultimately chose to seek out a single superintendent together.
Part of that collaboration included contracting Paul Hungerford, superintendent for the Gratiot-Isabella Regional Education Service District (RESD), to facilitate the selection process.
Hungerford didn’t just help guide discussion – he was the first to suggest a shared superintendent to Fulton and Ashley.
"[The] Ashley Community Schools board president reached out to me and just wondered in conversation if Fulton would ever be interested in sharing a superintendent,” Hungerford said. “And so really what I did is, I connected two subcommittees of their boards and they had a conversation, and then it took place from there.”
Outside of school board discussions, Hungerford also worked to include community members in conversations.
“I help[ed] create surveys for the community, the students, the staff, and the administrators for each of the districts,” Hungerford said. “They had the opportunity to hear their voice. During the interview process, the audience that were in attendance could provide feedback to the board in live time for them to consider prior to their deliberations.”
People were surveyed on what criteria was most important in a superintendent, culminating in Fulton creating a profile of the “ideal” superintendent.
The process included multiple rounds of public interviews, where students and parents were encouraged to ask candidates questions and share feedback with the school boards.
Hungerford commended the combined 13 school board members who chose Portenga, highlighting the unique circumstances.
“You know, kudos to both boards of education,” Hungerford said. “Ultimately, it was their decision, and they took a step in innovation from an innovative perspective to create a shared relationship while still being respectful of each district's individual identities and traditions.”
Through this new relationship, both schools could have access to more resources than ever before.
In a letter posted in March, Board presidents Karla Childers (Fulton) and Steve Hardman (Ashley) said that the hope is to give more to students by cutting back on administrative costs.
The plan, as negotiated by the boards and attorneys, is to split Portenga’s salary and benefits equally between the two districts.
Other than financially, Portenga acknowledged some additional challenges that may arise from working two jobs at once.
“When you're at one vocational, you know, one office for five days, you know, six days, you're developing relationships on an hourly basis,” Portenga said. “I'm going to have to be very intentional to get to all corners of both districts. I think that time management and relationships are going to be some of the deeper challenges to overcome, but I've never had a problem with developing good relationships in the past.”
A student-focused philosophy was one of the traits that Fulton and Ashley highlighted in the announcement of Portenga’s selection.
“I've gotten to know a lot of stakeholders in each district, including students, not only just through the interview process, but also in the hallways and ball fields,” Portenga said. “So, I'm very excited to not only to lead, but to serve, and I think that that that's a mindset that needs to be at the forefront of any superintendent's mind. I look forward to being a bright light for both districts, moving forward, students, staff, and stakeholders alike.”
Portenga has yet to sign his official contract but says he plans to once the school boards solidify details. He will begin his position as superintendent in the fall.