Ypsilanti's Dedrick Martin is finalist in 2nd superintendent search -- this time Kalamazoo
Ypsilanti Public Schools Superintendent Dedrick Martin was recruited as a finalist for the superintendency of the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency.
Dedrick Martin
KRESA's board conducted a "targeted" search for its next leader, according to a report on MLive. The board requested recommendations from current KRESA Superintendent Ron Fuller and the head of the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators. They compiled a list of eight possible candidates, the MLive report says; and those eight people — including Martin — were encouraged to apply for the position.
The targeted recruitment yielded four applications. Martin; David J. Campbell, superintendent of the Livingston Educational Service Agency; and Curtis E. Finch Jr., superintendent of the Mecosta-Osceola Intermediate School District north of Grand Rapids, all were offered interviews for the position, according to MLive. The fourth applicant's name was not released.
The public interviews will take place on May 23.
This is the second superintendent position Martin has been named a finalist for. He also was tapped as one of three contenders for the superintendency at St. Johns Public Schools.
Martin is one of many administrators from Ypsilanti Public Schools job-hunting in light of the district's upcoming merger with neighbor Willow Run Community Schools.
Ypsilanti's executive director of human resources, Sharon Irvine, resigned in March to accept an assistant superintendent's position with Warren Consolidated Schools; Scott Snyder, executive director of facilities and operations for Ypsilanti, is one of two finalists for the superintendency at Monroe Public Schools; and Assistant Superintendent of Educational Quality Jennifer Martin is one of four contenders for a superintendent's opening in Romulus Community Schools.
But of the above central administrators, Martin is the only one who has been offered a job at the new Ypsilanti Community Schools district. Martin has been told he will be retained as an associate superintendent for the district, although the details of his new contract have not been finalized.
The new district would have been financially responsible for honoring the current contracts of Martin and Willow Run Superintendent Laura Lisiscki whether or not they were rehired by the YCS district. Lisiscki also was offered a role as an associate superintendent of YCS.
Martin and Lisiscki's contracts had to be upheld because they are individual contracts with their districts, not affiliated with a collective bargaining unit, and there are no clauses stating the contracts can be terminated or non-renewed due to economic conditions.
Because a clause of this nature does not exist, even though the Ypsilanti and Willow Run districts will be dissolved on June 30, case law establishes the contract provisions then become the liability of the successor organization.
MLive reports the Kalamazoo RESA superintendent earns a base salary of $168,140 and has a total compensation package worth $260,000.
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
seriously-ypsi
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 1:45 a.m.
It's a sad situation that either of the Martin's would be considered for positions that aren't a result of a jury. After teaming up to ruin YPSD doing nothing more than digging the community into a debt that will never be paid down and is now the burden of YCS. But at least they will move on laughing at what they've done and do it again.
tom swift jr.
Wed, May 15, 2013 : 12:28 a.m.
Evidently it is against the guidelines here to state that my opinion is that Mr. Martin was a key factor in the failure of the Ypsilanti school district and project that, were he to be hired by another district in an administrative position they would eventually regret the decision to do so. Folks, if you elect to delete this comment as well, please go ahead and delete my user account here at aa.com
ahi
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 8:38 p.m.
Mr. Martin is a wonderful administrator and any smart board would hire him at once. I am sure the YCS community would be very sorry to see him go.
pseudo
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 7:34 p.m.
sorry lumberg - just about all public employees interviews can be made public and are possibly subject to FOIA requests. Government transparency. Not every interview is news but when final interviews are happening, it usually is (and very much should be) public. Again, I wish Mr. Martin good luck! I hope one of these works out well for him soon.
dading dont delete me bro
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 7:30 p.m.
so ypsilanti communty will end up with ONE superintendent afterall? all thanks to other job offers.
tom swift jr.
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 10:39 p.m.
no, if either of the assistant sups leave, you can bet that Menzel will hire replacements.
treetowncartel
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 6:45 p.m.
Does anyone know if the Ypsi and Willow Superintendants had guaranteed contracts, and that is why they were both kept, since they had to be paid anyway? If that is the case, it seems weird that everyone ele's contract was voided as part of the consolidation process, but those two were not.
apples
Wed, May 15, 2013 : 8:48 p.m.
Is it true the staff and community didn't know this either?
beardown
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 10:25 p.m.
They were guaranteed due to clauses in their contracts that gave them years of job security based upon satisfactory reviews. With the school district hemorrhaging money and his schools test scores bordering on Detroit levels, I am not sure how he received such marks, but somehow he did. I believe, if not hired at kzoo, that Martin has two years left on his contract and Lisiki has one. The bigger, and still unanswered question, was why wasn't this investigated prior to the merger?
lumberg48108
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 6:33 p.m.
I can't imagine having a job where your interviews for other jobs are made public for no other reason than it can be made public
beardown
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 10:28 p.m.
With the vitriol in the community over his rehire, this is definitely news worthy here. And with the controversey surrounding Martin and Lisiki being retained and Menzel hired, I would imagine the KRSEA board learned from the YCS boards mistakes.
treetowncartel
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 6:43 p.m.
I agree, but this isn't really necessary, it would be exempt under sunshine laws as a deliberative process. I'm guessing this is a proactive move so the Board's constituents can't complain later on.