Ron Gorman, a top administrator with over two decades of experience in Grand Rapids Public Schools, is poised to lead the district as interim superintendent while the school board searches for a permanent successor to schools chief Teresa Weatherall Neal.
At a work session Monday, May 13, the GRPS Board of Education voted to appoint Gorman to serve as interim following Neal’s retirement on June 30. The board decided last month to name an interim while launching a second national search for superintendent, after interviews with two finalist candidates did not produce a consensus choice.
Still to be negotiated are details of Gorman’s contract, including his salary and length of service. Board President Kristian Grant said the position will be for at least six months, and that contract details will be recommended to the board at its June 3 meeting. A request for proposals from search firms will also be presented then, she said.
Gorman, who applied for the interim position along with a teacher, offers experience in several different positions, familiarity with staff members, and continuity with the district’s current positive trajectory, Grant said.
“We know the district will keep moving forward in the same direction that we’ve been going,” Grant said after the meeting. “That’s really important to us to know the district is in good hands while we’re still doing a larger search. We want our families and our staff to feel a sense of security as they head out for summer vacation.”
Gorman is assistant superintendent of pre-K-12 instructional support for GRPS. He has previously served the district as a teacher at both the elementary and secondary level, as a high school principal, assistant principal and athletic director, as a K-8 principal, and as executive director of secondary schools.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Aquinas College, a master’s in educational leadership from Michigan State University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Western Michigan University. He has attended professional education programs at Harvard Graduate School of Education and New York City Leadership Academy. He also served eight years in the U.S. Army Reserves.
Gorman lives in Grand Rapids with his wife, Melissa, an educator in GRPS, and their two children.
