Crescent-News.com - Watson resigns as Napoleon superintendent

NAPOLEON -- David Watson, Napoleon Area Schools superintendent since 2003, is resigning to take the position of headmaster at Howe Military School in Howe, Ind.

Watson was unavailable for comment Saturday and again this morning, but board president Tom Moriarty confirmed that he has received Watson's letter of resignation.

Board action on the resignation, which is effective July 31, is expected during a special meeting Tuesday morning.

Howe Military School had an enrollment of 140 cadets in grades 5-12 for the 2007-2008 school year, according to its website. The school's cadets come primarily from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, but also from 15 other states and several nations. Twelve percent of the cadets are women.

Watson, 57, came to Napoleon after serving as superintendent at Athens Area Schools in Athens, Mich., since 1999. Prior to that, he served as principal of Sturgis (Mich.) High School from 1996-99 and principal of Marshall (Mich.) High School from 1994-96.

A native of the Port Huron area, he began his professional career as a teacher at Sturgis Public Schools, where he taught for 16 years. He also served that district as coordinator of the cooperative learning center and middle school principal, until accepting the Marshall position.

Watson is a 1973 graduate of Central Michigan University, where he majored in speech. He obtained a master's degree in counseling from Western Michigan University in 1977 and a master's degree in educational leadership from WMU in 1996.

Moriarty said Tuesday's special meeting at 8 a.m. may or may not include personnel action items involving other staff positions. He said it was possible the board would go into executive session to discuss the replacement of Watson.