Farmington Administrator Exits for Top Wyandotte Job

Wyandotte’s gain is Farmington’s loss.

Farmington Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Catherine Cost is moving a county away to take the top administrative job at Wyandotte Public Schools.

Cost, who begins her new duties July 1, is filling a vacancy created by the retirement of Wyandotte Superintendent Carla Harting, The Observer & Eccentric reports.

Cost’s move means Farmington will have to replace two of its top administrators.Superintendent Sue Zurvalec is retiring at the end of the school years after 25 years wth the district.

Cost, one of three finalists for the Wyandotte job, accepted the offer Tuesday night. The job pays $135,000 annually, a pay cut from her current salary of $151,383. The 4,040-student Wyandotte district has four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school, as well as 630 special needs students served by three centers.

“Wyandotte Public Schools is excited to welcome Dr. Catherine Cost as their next superintendent effective July 1, 2014,” Harting told the newspaper. “We look forward to Dr. Cost joining our district and working together where Wyandotte Public Schools always puts students first.”

Wyandotte Public Schools has 4,040 students in the general population, served by four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. The district also has 630 students in special needs programs, served by three centers.

Howard Wallach, Farmington school board president, said it’s a coincidence that the district is losing its two top administrators at the same time. He said the board members have known for several years that Zurvalec planned to retire at the end of the 2013-2014 school year. Board members were also aware that Cost had been job shopping and had applied for positions in Royal Oak, Clawson, Portage and Adrian.

Before Zurvalec leaves, she and Wallach will discuss whether Cost’s postion should be filed. The decision could be left to the current superintendent’s replacement, the newspaper said.

An official wth School Exec Connect, the search firm the district hired to find Zurvalec’s replacement, would not disclose whether Cost applied for the job. The company doesn’t disclose the names of any applications until finalists are selected for the school board’s consideration, a company spokesman said.