Ann Arbor Superintendent Todd Roberts' recent announcement of his resignation brings the number of districts looking for a new leader to four at a time when the pool of candidates for the job may not be very deep.

Superintendent jobs are coming open at a much higher rate than usual due to the state of Michigan’s retirement incentive package that was passed in May, said Michael Wilmot, president of Michigan Leadership Institute — the professional search firm hired by Dexter Community Schools.

Normally the number of vacancies posted this time of year is much lower than it is now, Wilmot said. “It’s a bit of uncharted waters.”

Wilmot said that districts like Ann Arbor and Dexter are taking a smart approach, however. They're anticipating making their hires by the next school year as opposed to immediately filling their positions.

“The districts who are looking to hire immediately are in a spot where there are fewer ideal choices. Right now the candidate pools are loaded with people without experience at this time of the year.”

Besides Ann Arbor and Dexter, Lincoln and Willow Run school districts are also looking to hire leaders for their districts.

The number of superintendent openings should be significantly decreased by this time next year, Wilmot said. It’s likely it’s a one-year cycle, he said.

Here's where the process stands for the four Washtenaw County school districts looking to fill their superintendent positions:

Ann Arbor

The school board began its search for a search firm on Friday by releasing a Request For Proposal (RFP) that was approved at a meeting on Monday.

“We’re looking for a partner who can guide us though the process of selecting our next superintendent and other parts of the process as well,” said Deb Mexicotte, school board president.

The board is hoping to have a professional services firm hired by the end of September and could install an interim superintendent by the end of October. The board has not committed to hiring an interim superintendent but members seemed to be leaning that way in Monday’s meeting.

The tentative timeline presented in the district’s RFP has a permanent superintendent selection being made in May 2011 and an official start date of July 1, 2011. Board members said the plan could be amended based on the search firm’s recommendations.

Roberts announced his resignation Aug. 13 to move with his family to North Carolina. He is taking the position of chancellor of the North Carolina School of Science and Math beginning in December. He is planning to stay with the district through the fall

Dexter

In Dexter, former Superintendent Robert Glass left the district to become superintendent of Bloomfield Hills Schools on June 30, and Mary Marshall took over as interim superintendent immediately following. Marshall will be staying on in an interim position until a final selection is made, school board President Larry Cobler said.

This is the second superintendent search in three years for the district after Glass was hired in 2008. Cobler said that experience may prove beneficial this time around.

“It’ll be a lot easier, we have a lot of materials developed,” he said. “For example, when we did this in 2008, we had a lot of meetings with the community and staff to develop a profile of the person we were looking for and we’re doing similar things this time.”

“This time we have something to start with rather than starting from scratch.”

Cobler said the school board has formed a hiring committee of three board members and one alternate member that recently hired the Michigan Leadership Institute to lead the search. The district worked with the MLI in its search hto find Glass.

The district hopes to make a selection by the end of this coming school year and have the new superintendent in place by the beginning of the next school year, Cobler said.

“We know what we want,” Cobler said. “My personal opinion is that we have a very collaborative district relationship between teachers and administration and we want someone who will carry that forward.”

Lincoln

Lincoln Consolidated Schools will be replacing Superintendent Lynn Cleary after she announced her retirement in June. Cleary has not given the board a timeline for leaving her position.

“I don’t have any indication on that yet,” said Kim Samuelson, president of the Lincoln School Board. “I assume we’ll get that before the next board meeting or at least have some sort of idea. We didn’t give her a timeline or a deadline, it’s kind of preliminary at this point.”

Cleary has been pushing the board to hire two assistant principals for Lincoln High School and Lincoln Middle School, but trustees seem reluctant to fill those positions before hiring a new superintendent.

In addition, the district’s human resources executive director, Sylvester Rowan announced at a board meeting on Monday he is leaving his position on Dec. 17.

Samuelson said the board has not begun discussions on what it will be looking for in a new superintendent.

“We’ve not even broached that yet. The discussion on that will happen in public at a board meeting,” she said. “We’ll go through the whole decision-making process, setting criteria, etc.”

Willow Run

In Willow Run Community Schools, the board is still mired in dealing with its former superintendent. Doris Hope-Jackson was demoted to an administrative position in December and put on paid leave in February.

The district and Hope-Jackson are going through hearings to determine whether or not the former superintendent “defrauded” the district and violated her contract. The hearings began in the middle of June and are closed to the public at Hope-Jackson’s request.

Laura Lisiscki is serving as acting superintendent.