Ypsilanti Human Resources Director Sharon Irvine accepts position with Warren Consolidated Schools
Ypsilanti Public Schools' Executive Director of Human Resources Sharon Irvine has resigned from the district to accept a position with Warren Consolidated Schools.
Irvine was offered a job as the assistant superintendent and chief human resource officer for Warren schools. Her first day in her new district will be May 15.
Warren Consolidated is more comparable to the Ann Arbor Public Schools in size and had a fall 2012 enrollment of 15,266 students, according to the Center for Educational Performance and Information. Ypsilanti's fall enrollment was 3,339.
"Because the new (Ypsilanti Community Schools) district will have two associate superintendents, it simply cannot afford additional central office administrative positions," Irvine said in an email to AnnArbor.com about her reasons for leaving Ypsilanti schools.
Irvine applied to become the first superintendent of the new consolidated Ypsilanti-Willow Run district. She interviewed for the role along with current Ypsilanti and Willow Run superintendents Dedrick Martin and Laura Lisiscki. She was the favorite candidate of many parents and staff at YPS. Numerous people spoke out at board meetings and in letters and emails to the joint Board of Education expressing their preference.
However, on Feb. 25 the board decided to pursue hiring both Martin and Lisiscki as associate superintendents in the new Ypsilanti Community Schools district. They are to serve under chief Superintendent Scott Menzel, who already is the superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District.
Sharon Irvine
From LinkedIn
"The board reviewed my application materials thoroughly, allowed me to interview and received an overwhelming amount of input from those that have been part of my work," she wrote in an email. "Whether there was a fair decision made from this consideration is at the heart of this controversy. I believe everyone involved carries their opinion on the matter."
Irvine said at the time, she was left to assume the possibility of her employment in the new district was as "tenuous as any of my administrative, teaching or support staff colleagues who will be engaged in a rehire process. We are all making decisions based on our best estimate of personal and professional fit with the new district."
She added she was overwhelmed by the faith of the community and was "at peace" with next steps in her career.
The leadership structure for the new district is pending contract negotiations and an agreement between the WISD Board of Education and the Ypsilanti-Willow Run board for superintendent services. The WISD board met Wednesday and approved an agreement to provide superintendent services through Menzel for the consolidated district during the "transition period," which has been defined in the proposed contract as ending on June 30, 2015, the expiration date of the contract.
The joint Ypsilanti-Willow Run board will vote on the agreement at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28.
The joint school board has not yet engaged in a discussion about how many or which central office administrator positions will be needed in the new district, aside from the superintendent and the associates. The majority of employees at both Ypsilanti and Willow Run are being laid off, effective June 30, and all of the staff members have been asked to reapply for their positions.
The layoffs are part of the legal process of closing out two separate districts in order to open a new one. The board did pass a directive earlier this year committing to rehiring as many qualified teachers and staff from the two separate districts as possible, and jobs have been posted.
"I am a part of the fabric of the Ypsilanti community. I understand the challenges that plague its school systems and the strengths that have led to their successes," Irvine wrote in her email Wednesday about leaving the Ypsilanti school district. "More than anything, I understand the exceptional value of their human capital. Students learn because of the relationships, commitment and resiliency of our staff, from lunchroom supervisor to administrator. I am honored to have had the opportunity to devote the past two years in support of them."
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
Ypsi Eastsider
Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 7:08 p.m.
Of course not, it means they will hire more staff and pay them even more money then those that leave. "You have to pay for quality people" will be the moronic reply from management and board for the pay increases. It's a race to the bottom.
Elgin
Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 8:51 p.m.
If they use that rationale to justify 3 superintendents and a bunch of do-nothing or counter-productive admin types ... then what you're saying is true. But if you mean that experienced, seasoned teachers (slightly more expensive, probably) in a district like Ypsi are somehow not needed? Totally wrong. They can't just staff the district with cheaper, inexperienced educators and hope for the best. That is the assumption that will accelerate the race to the bottom.
beardown
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 5:25 p.m.
"Because the new (Ypsilanti Community Schools) district will have two associate superintendents, it simply cannot afford additional central office administrative positions," Irvine said in an email to AnnArbor.com about her reasons for leaving Ypsilanti schools." I love it. Brilliant. The moronic, short sighted, politically weak move of hiring both superintendents back is already running the talent out of the district at a time when it needs it the most. She may be the first to leave, but I doubt she will be the last. So, does this mean the Martin and Lisiki will be managing the hiring of all of those teachers, all of those admins, all the staff, and everyone else? Ha, this should be great viewing.
Krista Boyer
Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 11:10 a.m.
The WISD has contracted former Ann Arbor administrator Bob Galardi to oversee the hiring of staff for the new district.
Elgin
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 5:44 p.m.
I'd imagine everyone on both sides of the hiring process is panicking, with her leaving. The stories about teachers being forced to ask for references, and the involvement of vocal political operatives from the public being brought into the hiring process ... are truly horrifying. Irvine made a point to mention human capital as being the most important part of the district ... probably her way of letting everyone know that this hiring process isn't her baby.
JBK
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 4:51 p.m.
Wow! Ypsi's loss and Warren's gain. I just hope she vetted what is going on in Warren. They have 6 school districts and there has been ongoing talk of merging at least a couple of them. She could find herself in a similar situation to the one she just left. Unified School Districts: WARREN CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS CENTER LINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS EAST DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS FITZGERALD PUBLIC SCHOOLS VAN DYKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WARREN WOODS PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Elgin
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 6:10 p.m.
JBK - those districts aren't all equal, as you seem to be implying. WCS is dramatically larger than the others. It looks like, if anything, WCS would be able to fold one or more of those other districts into the mix without missing a beat. That's nothing like the more risky, potentially failing merger of roughly failed equals... which is the Ypsi situation. If you find anything remarkable in the situation, it should be that someone was well-aware that they could easily get the bigger less controversial gig, yet felt professionally compelled to take on the more thankless, tougher gig. Astonishing proof of character, I think.
YPSTeachers
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 6:04 p.m.
Trust me. No consolidation effort there would look anything like this going on here. In Warren, the value of teachers is high and collaborative work with unions is strong.
rob.r.keeds
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 4:58 p.m.
Did she give you the impression she would shy away from challenge or hard work? She wanted the ypsi job remember?
rob.r.keeds
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 4:46 p.m.
Good for Sharon Irvine. She deserved to walk away from the debacle of a superintendent search at ypsi with an even bigger better job than she would have had here had the ypsi board done the right thing.
chapmaja
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 4:44 p.m.
I think she made a great decision. Being a leader in a newly formed district has it's ups and its downs. That is a job that would really be tough on anyone. She has chosen to take a job with much stability. What I don't understand is the decision they made regarding the superintendent position. If I understand it correctly, they now will be using the WISD Super as the YCS Super, and have these two guys working under the WISD/YCS super. To me this limits the cost savings of combining the two districts. Next, in regards to the central office position. They will have to consolidate the curriculum departments, the human resources departments, and building services departments, and athletic departments. All of these departments should require half the staff that currently worked for the two districts. Maybe slightly more than half will be employed because of additional workloads compared with what each half was doing, but not much more than half what was employed. The biggest problem I see with the combination is decision making on building usage, and related things. I haven't heard it officially announced, but the high school to be used has to be Ypsi HS. What will happen with WRHS? Will it become a middle school? What about the fact the new district will have 2 swimming pools. What will happen to those pools? Willow Run has the better swimming pool (better for competitive swimming), so will that be used by the teams? Two pools can work if the community wants them to work? One of them could become a community pool (hopefully Ypsi HS), to be used by the Ypsi Otters and other community programs, while Willow Runs pool gets used by the swim teams from the school district. The decision making process that is going on seems to be pretty slow considering the end of the districts is 3 months away.
Marguerite
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 3:42 p.m.
The schools are so top heavy. They lay off the staff that do the actual work to fund people with bs jobs.
pseudo
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 3:35 p.m.
first: congratulations to Sharon and ouchy! what a loss for Ypsi! second, is seems odd to me that our current tag-team superintendants haven't been in the running for jobs elsewhere? did they apply? or was it pretty certain for them that their jobs had been preserved by their repsective boards?
beardown
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 5:29 p.m.
You could tell in their interviews that they knew it was a mere formality before they were rehired. They knew that as long as they didn't do anything crazy or rash in their interviews that they were coming back. So, instead of keeping a young and enthusiastic member of the admin, one who was liked by most of the public, they instead chose to keep two former admins that generally did a horrible job, ran their districts into the ground, and all pretty much un-qualified for the positions they now hold. Brilliant. The more things change, the more they stay the same in Ypsi.
rob.r.keeds
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 4:37 p.m.
Did you see the interviews from the other two? Who would hire them other than their current districts? I mean the past individual districts, not the new one. That's a serious question. Theres no way willow run would ever hire Martin and there is no way ypsi would ever consider Lisiscki. That was the entire problem in the internal search process with the existing superintendents each having partial support from new board members from their old boards not based on credibility but based on relationships alone. And then the new board members just being completely intimidated by the situation. It seems inconceivable either one would warrant serious consideration for superintendent jobs anywhere else. Of course Martin will leave but it looks like his future will be back in politically oriented asst super jobs like he had in illinois. Hes a glad-hander type leader who can appeal well to certain constituencies. But not a comprehensive superintendent level administrator who needs to be able to work with everyone. Hes young maybe hell grow into that elsewhere. Lisiscki likely isnt going anywhere else. Did you hear her speak? From her interview who would possibly consider hiring her for a public-facing role like superintendent or any central admin job? It seems like her next career step is likely backwards into a principle job, where her good qualities can be utilized and her flaws largely masked.
Dog Guy
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 3:31 p.m.
When the going gets tough, the prudent get going.
YPSTeachers
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 6 p.m.
Prudence would have been to stay and stick it out. Irvine doesn't shy away from tough. But, that didn't even turn out to be a possibility. One of the two assistant sups will take human resources. Ypsi staff is already cringing. Good thing she had this opportunity. Imagine the political fallout of revealing to everyone that the community's top choice didn't even have a place in the new district.... before finding out she was going somewhere else...
beardown
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 5:30 p.m.
Rob, I think that they honestly believe that these decisions are the best ones for the district. Which is truly terrifying.
rob.r.keeds
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 4:52 p.m.
Irvine was easily the best candidate available. She wanted the job even though she knew she could get bigger better and much easier jobs elsewhere. The ypsi board had a gift champion horse and they looked it in the mouth. Those fools should all resign in disgrace.
Basic Bob
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 3:04 p.m.
Congratulations to Ms. Irvine. I believe she has made a sound decision for her own personal circumstances. She has a superintendent job in her future, but this was not the time and place.
Elgin
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 9:23 p.m.
Nonsense, Bob. Maybe it is you who hasn't moved on. You made a point to not only congratulate Ms. Irvine, but then also take a vague shot at the same time - implying that the outcome was somehow obvious to you. I'd like to know "in what way". I just asked you to clarify what you meant, because what you said could be taken in two very different ways - one obviously true, and the other clearly not true.
Basic Bob
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 8:59 p.m.
@Elgin, Please don't look for an argument. The board made their decision and everyone else is moving on.
Elgin
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 6:16 p.m.
I stand corrected - thanks. A quick search surfaced this (which is cool): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/MI/districtrank.aspx
Danielle Arndt
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 5:59 p.m.
Elgin, thanks for mentioning the size of Warren. I went back and added recent student enrollment information to the article for readers. Warren enrolled approximately five times as many students as Ypsilanti in fall 2012.
Elgin
Thu, Mar 28, 2013 : 5:32 p.m.
If you mean the unfortunate situation (the politics across the two districts and the weak interim appointed board) made it impossible for this to be the time and place for Irvine, then I agree with you. If you mean the job was too big for her, then I completely disagree. And Warren, a 17,000-student district that absolutely dwarfs Ypsi/WR in every way ... disagrees with you as well.