Coldwater schools brings in consultant in superintendent search
COLDWATER — The Coldwater Community School board will turn to an online survey and a professional head hunter firm to find a replacement for retiring superintendent Terry Whelan.
Michigan Leadership Institute regional vice president Dave Killips will lead the search for the Genesee County-based consultants the school system announced.
The first step is a community survey to go up Monday morning on the school system website. Students, staff and the community are asked to provide input in the short anonymous survey, which can be found at coldwaterschools.org. The survey will be open 8 a.m. Monday, Dec. 5, to 4 p.m. Dec. 9.
At the Nov. 21 school board meeting, the 70-year-old Whelan said her retirement was effective June 30.
Whelan came to the school system in June 2014 as financial officer. In May 2015, Tina Kerr resigned after five years as superintendent to take a job with the Michigan Association of School Administrators. Whelan was named superintendent in August.
Whelan said in her prepared statement: “This was not an easy decision to make, as it has been my honor and pleasure to serve for the last nine years in the community where I was born and raised. I am also proud to have raised my own family in this wonderful community, where I currently have nine grandchildren attending Coldwater Schools as the fifth generation.”
Whelan came back to Coldwater after serving as superintendent of the Coloma school system in 2002 for 12 years. She previously was superintendent in the Inkster School district. From 1996 to 1998, she was the Coldwater school district’s business manager.
Since 2021, Whelan has had two disappointments. Voters turned down two millages in November that year to upgrade schools, mainly Coldwater High School. The second millage would have added a 950-seat auditorium.
In May this year, voters again turned down a millage request for 1.85 mills to renovate and upgrade the 70-year-old high school.
Voters approved a 2017 bond issue to close Lakeland school on Centennial Road and construct the Lakeland fourth and fifth grade elementary building in Heritage Park. It also funded other renovation projects.
Whelan is proud she left the district fund balance healthy.
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“Thank you for your trust in me and for providing me with the amazing and heartfelt opportunity to serve you, as it truly has been a dream come true," Whelan said. "I will always reflect fondly upon my time spent at Coldwater Schools and the relationships and friendships I have gained that I would not have otherwise.”
The school board listed some traits it's looking for in a new superintendent, including a strong commitment to forging partnerships with teachers, students and parents.
— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Consultant will help find replacement for retiring superintendent Terry whelan in Coldwater
