This comes as little suprise as there were many, many comments left right here on the Patch website questioning his hiring when it happened. There was little from his previoius professional background that seemed to be a fit for such a large district like RCS. Sadly, this has cost the district financially during times where they really cannot afford it.

TOTALLY agree with previous poster. He obviously prefers the smaller districts. Sad that our school district "wasted" over $30,000 in the search and I feel bad for the other candidates that lost out to him. Regardless, I'm sure our current school board will make the best decision and find someone that truly wants to be in Rochester and help make a difference. I"m sure this will open their eyes.

What happens to his contract? I assume he is forfeiting what is left in it, and maybe even have to pay a penalty for wasting the Districts time. Instead of pointing fingers at the teachers, maybe people should start at the top.

Something seems off here. I feel like there is much more to this story. Why this sudden decision after one year, and so close to the upcoming school year??? Makes you wonder....what else will come to light in this story? What is being hidden??

I have appreciated having Mr. Clarke here as our superintendent. I feel he has listened to the community and made it a point to get to know many of the people actively involved in our schools. While I had hoped for some stronger action for gifted students, I believe some initiatives have begun during his time here that will make education better for gifted learners in our district. He has been open to exploring ideas, even some that many would consider radical.

I certainly understand his passion for reforming a particular area of education and RCS doesn't offer that opportunity the way that many other districts do.

I wish him the best wherever his new job shall end up being and know that he will continue to work hard for us in his time remaining here.

Is there any way the District can be compensated for the $30,000 search fee?? One has to assume that Mr. Clarke is leaving b/c something unethical has transpired, or perhaps it has turned out that something that was purported to be was/is not ... and if that is the case, is there any recourse for RCS??

Well, something does seem off. Most people give themselves more than ONE YEAR to decide if a job is a good fit for them. Also, maybe this year they will not pass up a FEMALE candidate like they did last time!

Well, Joshua, I am not going to argue with you, but the candidate that was chosen is now leaving after one year.....

Geraldine Moore has been a strong force in RCS since her arrival over 6 years ago. The fact that she was one of the finalists in the past search makes her the clear choice for this job. I'm sure the BOE realizes they have a well seasoned candidate and capable leader already among their ranks.

I would think that Grant Public Schools would consider Mr. Clarke's decision to bail one year in pretty suspect too. When I used to hire, job hopping was always a red flag on the resume.

It addition to Geraldine Moore there were also 2 candidates from both Grosse Pointe School District and Birmingham School District. Each of these seemed like they were much more obvioius fits for this position given their professional backgrounds and experience. It is was hard to understand the decision at the time and even more so now.

I'm sure this stint will look good on Mr. Clarks resume ... I'm still trying to understand $30K ... really?

Jake MacNeil: The former was facetious. The latter was not. This was a costly judgement call on the school board's part. Let's hope they do better this time. As noted by others, the hire was questionable from the outset given the disparities between the school district (Albion) from which Clarke was hired and RCS. At minimum the board should conduct a site visit (if the next person comes from outside RCS) and consider the aforementioned clause.

I've found it odd how there is almost no information out there about the Grant Public Schools superintendent search. I can't find a candidate list on their website or a newspaper article about it.

Doesn't it occur to anyone, that the only reason mr. clarke was hired , was to outsource? Just like in Albion, now in Rochester...Lookout Grant Public Schools - you're next.

Not to beat a dead horse but I also want to know what costs 30,000 dollars to find someone to run a district? Seriously...

Clarke was not brought in to outsource. They started the process before Clarke, and will likely continue with whomever is hired as a replacement. It's inevitable, not just in Rochester, but in unionized Michigan schools.

Clarke was brought in as a result of the school board's tendency to behave like a social club, rather than a serious governing board. The district had a chance to elevate accomplished existing assistant supts from three so-called "high performing districts" (Rochester, B'Ham, and Grosse Pointe), and instead chose to snatch Clarke up from the bottom 5% of all Michigan districts.

Regardless of Clarke's resume, the demographics of Albion had no match with Rochester. The size and complexity of the district had no match with Rochester. His experience had no match with Rochester. Yet in it's infinite wisdom the board selected him for this grand experiment with no meaningful explanation or rationale. How on earth was he supposed to succeed in this sort of setting?

Does anyone realize that this board did not even bother to make a site visit or check references before moving him from his $110K job to his $180K job? Nothing against Clarke... more of an observation on the "dedicated volunteers".

Anyway, what seems to be absent from this discussion is the "what if" scenario at Grant. They are interviewing... they have not yet hired Clarke. What if they don't hire him?

Hehe... from Patch in March, 2011! :-)

"I found him to be articulate, to have a depth of knowledge and to be very well-prepared," said board member Marty Sibert, who led the committee to find a new superintendent to replace retiring Superintendent David Pruneau.

"He always spoke in a positive manner," Sibert said. "I certainly found him to have a vision."

Clarke outlined that vision in a presentation and interview with board members before their decision Friday night; he was the third and final candidate interviewed this week.

Board members commended Clarke's background in technology, his ability to think "out of the box" and his commitment to being involved with the community outside of the school. They described him as intellectual and inspirational — one who would take the district from "great to greatest," as he mentioned in his interview Friday.

"He had meat behind the vision and some demonstrable examples. ... He saw the challenges as opportunities," said board member Gerald Moore.

Board member Chuck Coutteau called Clarke a collaborative, participating leader. "He was zeroing in on the right things," Coutteau said. "He has experience with being creative with less funding."

Board members planned to call Clarke to offer him the position following Friday night's meeting. They will then begin to negotiate his salary.

I would be very concerned over a canidate from Grosse Pointe Schools. I am personal friends with several teachers and citizens in that district and have been surprised repeatedly by how "old school" their system appears to be run. Professionally staff sounds as if it has been offered very little training and support in the latest achievement trends. Their system seem years behind RCS in their curriculum; making the jump to common core intensely difficult. They have limited classroom support, which we in Rochester have always upheld as important to delivering quality instruction.Their special education department is even more interestingly run. I would hope canidates from a potentially antiquated system would be weighed in a way it seems Mr. Clarke may have not. Biting off more than one can chew in such a financially precariuos and turmoltuous time as this and on the onset to a new contract year for teachers is very stressful. What we need is for citizens who are concerned with the schools to contact their representatives and pay attention to legislation that is taking money away from our children's education through their decision making and become more informed and involved politically. As to Mr. Clarke, what happens is what happens, and I'd rather see us move positively forward then try to make assumptions about why and turn it into a media drama.

I am shocked at what is being said about the school board acting more like a social club. Can anybody else shed some light on this? We voted for them...

Update: Fred Clarke has been selected as a finalist for this position; he will be interviewed Monday night, along with Jonathan Whan of Bedford Schools and Tim Hughes of Ashley Schools.

FYI I know lots of Grosse Pointe Teachers and students YES GP South is a great school but GPNorth has gone seriously down hill !! I'm not finding blame, just saying things have changed check the scores.I'm going to contact my friends who teach in GPschools to see what they thought of him.. Just wondered if anyone looked at the Clarkston district for someone that district has some great people

If the composition of the board has changed since Clarke was hired you can be sure that internal politics is the reason he is leaving. When the board turns against you it is impossible to effectively lead a school district. The new board members have no loyalty to Clarke and may even be openly hostile to him because of their preference for another candidate. Clarke is an intelligent, compassionate, dedicated professional who wouldn't be leaving if he believed he could be successful at RH. Undoubtedly, the board has turned against him for reasons other than job performance and so a good man has to uproot his family again. And don't judge him by his experience in Albion. It will take Jesus himself to fix that train wreck.