GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The woman who spent the last several years bringing Grand Rapids Public Schools out of a downward spiral said she's feeling a little guilty about leaving but is confident the district's forward momentum will continue.
GRPS Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal will end her decades long tenure when sheretiresnext month. In advance of that, she sat down with 24 Hour News 8 to look back on her time with the district.
"I wish I could've worked more with our parents," Weatherall Neal said. "My fear is who's going to look after the kids when I'm gone? And that shouldn't be my fear. Maybe that's the mother in me. My cabinet will say I'm the mother bear. It's like when your kids leave you all of a sudden, you wish you would've done or could've had more time with them. I think that's what I'm feeling."
Weatherall Neal can leave with pride in the accomplishments the district has seen in recent years, but rising to the superintendent's office was never in her career plans. She calls herself a "great No. 2 person," but took on the difficult task when the board approached her at the end of 2011.
Families in the district know Weatherall Neal understands their priorities and concerns on a personal level. She grew up in GRPS, so she brought unique perspective to leading West Michigan's largest school district.
"I've always felt I owned the district, that its success was sort of connected to me and so that didn't scare me off," she explained. "I can say every day I've loved this district. Even when we were at our worst, I loved the district. I wanted us to get better."
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