Hopkins High 
School graduate Sue Wakefield will retire as superintendent of Plainwell Community Schools at the end of the 2015-16 academic year.
When Wakefield steps down in June, she will have served the district in that capacity for the past 10 years.
Wakefield, the former Sue Maher, graduated from Hopkins in 1977 and was a starting forward as a junior on the Class C state runner-up girls’ basketball squad in 1975.
A prepared statement from Board of Education President Amy Blades called Wakefield, “a strong advocate for public education, a leader in academic excellence” who “led the district with strong financial stability in some of the most difficult financial times our district has faced… We will miss her leadership and wish her well in her retirement.”
Wakefield was quoted as saying she was most proud “of the fact that Plainwell Community Schools continually moved forward during what was the worst recession in the history of public education in Michigan.”
Plainwell won 10 state and national awards in the past year.
However, there were controversies during her tenure. In one instance, she fired two wrestling coaches after learning they violated Michigan High School Athletic Association rules against using plastic suits to lose weight.
In another instance, tenure charges were filed against band director Paul Mundo despite may calls from the public to retain him. And school board members charged she failed to inform them about an incident in which a Gilkey Lake Elementary student brought a fake gun to school.
At one point, members of the local teachers’ union attempted to encourage her to resign.
Wakefield also served a couple of years as assistant principal at Wayland High School before she took a job in 2002 as principal at Plainwell High School.
