Ypsilanti Superintendent Dedrick Martin accepts position in St. Johns

Previous coverage:

• Ypsilanti schools superintendent is finalist for St. Johns position
• Ypsilanti's Dedrick Martin is finalist in 2nd superintendent search -- this time Kalamazoo

Ypsilanti Public Schools Superintendent Dedrick Martin will be leaving the new Ypsilanti Community Schools district and consolidation effort to take a position with St. Johns Public Schools.

School officials with the St. Johns district confirmed the Board of Education offered Martin the superintendent's position during a special board meeting on May 2 in a 7-0 vote. A contract has been negotiated, however, details of the contract, such as Martin's new salary, were not immediately available Friday morning.

Martin will begin his new role on July 1.

Martin also was named a finalist this week for the superintendent position at the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency, the intermediate school district in Kalamazoo County. MLive reported that Martin has withdrawn from consideration in order to accept the job at St. Johns.

St. Johns, which is located about 30 minutes north of Lansing, is a district similar in size to Ypsilanti. It had a fall enrollment of 3,134 students, while Ypsilanti's enrollment was 3,339.

Martin was out of the office Friday and could not be reached for comment. An email from Martin was posted to a Facebook page for supporters of the Ypsilanti Community Schools, the new consolidated Ypsilanti-Willow Run district that will be launch July 1. In the email, Martin wrote that he is excited for this next phase in his career and for his family, but also is saddened to be leaving as he looks back at the memories he's shared with the students, educators and community members in Ypsilanti.

Martin was hired at Ypsilanti Public Schools in August of 2009 and came in under difficult circumstances. The district had passed a deficit budget in June of that year and it was expected to be an uphill battle to get YPS out of debt within two years.

In the spring of 2012, both the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts, behind the leadership of Martin and Willow Run Superintendent Laura Lisiscki, began pursuing consolidation, which voters ultimately approved in November 2012.

Martin was to be retained as an associated superintendent, along with Lisiscki, in the new Ypsilanti Community Schools district, although the details of that arrangement had not been released yet.

Washtenaw Intermediate School District and YCS Superintendent Scott Menzel could not immediately be reached for comment on Martin's departure.

Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.