Royal Oak School Board Chooses Lewis-Lakin of Manchester as New Superintendent

Members of the voted unanimously Wednesday night to extend an offer to Shawn Lewis-Lakin to be the next superintendent of Royal Oak Schools.

“A community entrusts their resources to the school board and the leadership of the district,” Lewis-Lakin said Wednesday in closing his final interview. “And then they entrust those resources more to the most important task of a community and that is educating the children. I will be about that most important task as your superintendent, and I really look forward to that opportunity with you."

The decision came following the second interviews with Lewis-Lakin, 51, who is the superintendent of the Manchester Community School District, and fellow finalist M. Jon Dean, 38, assistant superintendent/executive director for human resources of Birmingham Public Schools.

“I think Shawn Lewis-Lakin would be a great fit for Royal Oak,” school board Vice-President Deborah Anderson said as the board discussed the final two candidates.

Board members said they liked Lewis-Lakins’ commitment to being a part of the community and his experience.

“I like the actual hands-on-experience, which was a key factor for me,” board President Gary Briggs said. "But I think it was a very difficult decision and I think we were fortunate to have such good candidates."

Briggs stressed that both candidates were very impressive, a sentiment echoed by his fellow board members.

Neither candidate was in attendance when the board's decision was made. Lewis-Lakin was to be notified today, said Marie Miller, adjunct consultant for the Michigan Association of School Boards, which was hired by the district to conduct the search. At that point, the contract negotiation process would begin, Briggs said.

The two candidates were narrowed down from a pool of 32 applicants and then a group of five educators chosen to interview for outgoing Superintendent Thomas Moline's position. Moline retires in June after five years with the district.