The Greenfield and Palmyra-Northwestern school districts are in search of a new superintendent.
Dr. Kevin Bowman will be leaving both districts on July 1st and return to Southwestern School District to become the superintendent. Bowman had previously been principal at Southwestern High School before becoming dual superintendent of Greenfield and Northwestern.
Greenfield School Board President Elliott Turpin says that Greenfield has begun their search for a new top administrator: “At this point, we have hired a consultant, Dr. Bill Phillips from Midwest School Consultants. His job will be to not only post the position, which he’s already done, but also to take the applications of potential superintendent candidates and vet them, and submit a list of what he feels are his preferred candidates to the Board of Education. There is no specific timeline for that. Obviously, we want to make sure that we’ve taken enough time to look through some really qualified candidates and try to get the best candidate that we can find. As of this time, we have also hired Mr. Phillips to be our interim superintendent beginning July 1st of this year until we have appointed a new superintendent.”
Bowman will be replacing Kyle Hacke at Southwestern, who tendered his resignation in May to take over as the new superintendent at North Mac School District.
Turpin praised Bowman for his tenure in Greenfield, especially for his guidance through some of the district’s toughest of times: “We went through some pretty rough times when he first started. School finances were just an absolute disaster for everybody. During his tenure, the General Assembly changed the way that schools would be funded. That allowed us to be on a more sound financial foundation, and with Dr. Bowman’s guidance, we were certainly able to put that money to good use.”
Turpin also praised Bowman’s work through the COVID-19 pandemic, his connection with students’ achievements, and his ability to direct maintenance of Greenfield’s school buildings.
Turpin says it was great to have a Greenfield native and graduate come back and do great work for the district and the community: “I think our board has always appreciated and praised Dr. Bowman for the good work that he’s done. Again, with the buildings, the finances, and public relations – I think he’s just always been a good ambassador for the school district to the public. I think being from Greenfield originally is helpful in that regard. When he took over, he already knew so much of the community and people recognized him. It was easy for him to relate to the public…even people that haven’t always agreed with everything he’s done, I think everyone has had a tremendous amount of respect for him and supported him. We are certainly sad to see him go.”
Bowman was recognized at the Greenfield School Board meeting held earlier this month for his years of service to the district.