Northport Public School superintendent Tyrus Wessell submitted his resignation Monday night at a special meeting of the Northport Board of Education.

Wessell has verbally accepted the position of director of instructional services at the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District (ISD).

ISD superintendent Michael Hill said Tuesday that Wessell’s hiring has to be approved by the ISD board before he can formally accept the position. The board is scheduled to meet July 1 and Aug. 5. Hill said he will present his recommendation to the board at one of those dates, and Wessell has asked to help the Northport Board of Education begin its transition to a new superintendent.

Northport board president Denise Branch said Tuesday that Wessell called her late last week to say he was one of the finalists for the ISD position, and then informed her Monday he was offered the job and accepted it.

“I knew about it some before Ty informed the board about his decision Monday. I think the other board members were surprised,” she said.

Branch has contacted the Michigan Leadership Institute, based in Traverse City, and the Michigan Association of School Boards, to request proposals for conducting a search for a new superintendent. The board hired the Michigan Leadership Institute to conduct its last two superintendent searches, which resulted in the hirings of Wessell and former school chief Richard Cross.

“Ty is leaving open when his resignation will take effect so we can decide how we’re going to search for a new superintendent,” Branch said. The board will discuss the matter at its regular meeting July 14. Branch said that’s also when the board will hold its organizational meeting where two new board members will be seated and officers elected for the new fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Wessell will take a bit of a pay cut with the new position. He currently earns $103,023, which was scheduled to increase to $106,114 for the new fiscal year. His salary as director of instructional services will be $93,863 to start, according to ISD human resources director Stephanie Murray.

Wessell said he had not been looking for a new position and for the most part was happy as superintendent at Northport. In April, the position of director of instructional services at the ISD came open and he saw an opportunity.

“My passion in education has always been curriculum and teaching assessment and improvement,” he said. “This was a chance to spend 100 percent of my time working on curriculum and instructional development, assessment and improvement.”

Wessell has been Northport’s superintendent for three years. During his time at Northport he has guided the board and school community through some controversial issues, including discussion of closing the high school and transferring students to other public schools in the county. Wessell and the board are currently defending the district in a special administrative law hearing brought on by a complaint from board member Alan Woods over his son’s special education instructional plan.

Wessell said he believes the Northport superintendent job remains an attractive post. “The staff, students, board and community here in Northport care very much about what happens with their school. You can not ask for more than that as a superintendent,” he said.

“This was a very difficult decision,” he said about resigning. “I’m leaving a wonderful staff. I’ll miss interacting with the teachers, students and families here at Northport on a daily basis.”

Wessell and his wife, Cathy, are not moving and he plans to stay involved in the community as much as his new job will allow. He said he is proud of what he, the staff and board have accomplished in the three years he has been superintendent.

“I believe we collectively have fully implemented a professional learning community where student improvement and achievement are what is most important. We have fully integrated the latest technology into our curriculum and improved that as well, and we have a real community commitment to maintaining and improving our school,” he said.

Wessell said he won’t miss issues that he said have distracted him and the school community from focusing on improving Northport’s teaching and learning environment.

“Being embroiled in a special education administrative law hearing is a very challenging experience,” he said.

When asked to comment about Wessell’s resignation Tuesday, Woods said Wessell has generally talked about all the good things the ISD does for Northport but never offered proof to support his claims.

“I think this is a reward for his defense of the ISD. I don’t see any evidence, and maybe there is contrary evidence, that Dr. Wessell is best suited for this position,” Woods said. He cited as examples that Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) scores have continually gone done in some areas during Wessell’s term. Woods also said that he was upset with Wessell for linking most of that decline to the inclusion of special education students in MEAP results.

Woods said he hopes the board will be willing to hire a new superintendent who will stand up to the ISD. “We send them a lot of our money and get almost nothing in return. We need a superintendent that works for the board rather than try and usurp its authority,” he said.

Branch said Northport could not have been served better than it was by Wessell.

“Ty has done a remarkable job given all of the challenges the district has faced. He has helped the district move forward and improve tremendously and will continue to do so,” she said.