The South Lyon Community Schools Board of Education is beginning the process to search for a new superintendent.

Superintendent Melissa Baker is resigning to “pursue a new leadership opportunity” but has not yet announced publicly what that position will be. The board met Monday and briefly discussed the matter, offering Baker congratulations and saying she’ll be missed. Baker commented during the meeting that she plans to stay on until the end of December or January, whatever works best for the district to help in the search process. Baker has served as the superintendent since 2015 but has worked for the district for much longer in various capacities and worked her way up over the years. She succeeded longtime Superintendent Bill Pearson who retired after 20 years in the position.

A formal study session is scheduled later next week to discuss the process with representatives from the Michigan Association of School Boards. Vice President Eric Kennedy tells WHMI Baker has been with the district for around 26 years now as a teacher, administrator, assistant superintendent and then superintendent so she has quite the history. He says this is definitely not going to be a quick decision and the study session will help determine the best course of action. Kennedy says the study session is really just to lay out different options moving forward in the search process. The board could choose to hire the MASB or selected a different search firm.

Trustee Anthony Abbate says the initial study session is meant to be informational with MASB representatives outlining what the process typically looks like and the different paths the board could take. He tells WHMI the smart play is to bring in an organization to help with the search because it’s the most significant decision they’ll make as a board and it will have lasting impact.
Abbate noted that longevity is uncommon in the superintendent field and it tends to be a short lived gig, so for Baker to have served as long as she and as well as she has is not a very common thing – adding the same goes for Dr. Pearson. He says both are special people and not easy to find so the board has a really big job ahead of them but will take it very seriously and do the best they can.

The study session will be held at 6:30pm on Wednesday, October 30th in the South Lyon City and School Administration building on South Warren Street. (JM)