Wayland Schools Superintendent Norman Taylor, credited with stabilizing a troubled school district during his decade of tenure, Monday night announced he will retire June 30, at the end of the academic year.
Taylor was hired in 2010 at Wayland, which was seeing the exodus of three top administrators and absorbing a dangerously low budget fund balance. Insiders said there also was low morale among teachers and staff, dissatisfied with the leadership of his predecessor, Eivor Swan.
Board of Education member Gary Wood, who was on the school board when it decided to bring Taylor on board, said, “I didn’t think we would be blessed to have him for 10 years. Our schools were in crisis and he turned out to be the cure.”
Fellow board member Janel Hott added Taylor “bridged the gap when this school district needed you.”
Taylor told board members and a meeting audience that he doesn’t have any health issues that he’s aware of, but now is the time for him to step down and enjoy retirement. He said he and his wife and many members of his family will continue to live in the community and school district.
He told the board, “Working together, we’ve made strides,” particularly in finances, noting that budget fund balance has doubled in the last 10 years.
He also pointed to the success in getting the middle school addition built, the tennis courts replaced and the high school science wing.
“I am an individual with interests outside of education,” he said, and he may wind up doing a little work in the private sector.
Taylor said his timing affords the school board plenty of time to find his successor and perhaps lead to a smooth administrative transition over the summer.
Board member Dan Cassini told Taylor, “You’ve been a gentleman. I am proud to have served with you. The district now is much better than the day you came here.”
Board Vice President Pete Zondervan said, “You’ve made me a board member. Your legacy lives in the students, a testament to the leadership you’ve brought.”
Board President Cinnamon Mellema told Taylor, “I absolutely believe you have left the district a better place than when you came.”
Taylor took the Wayland post in September 2010. Before that he had been superintendent at Northview and at Constantine, principal at Bronson Junior and Senior High School, assistant principal and athletic director at Bronson, and will have turned in 44 years in the education field by next June.
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Michigan State University and another master’s in educational leadership at Western Michigan University.
