Bill DeFrance, Eaton Rapids Public Schools superintendent, to retire after 20 years

EATON RAPIDS — Bill DeFrance isn’t your typical superintendent.

He walked away from a successful career working for a Fortune 500 company in his late 40s to try to make a difference.

In December, he’ll retire after 20 years as superintendent of Eaton Rapids Public Schools, capping an education career that spanned 22 years.

In an industry in which typical superintendents come from the ranks, from teacher to principal to top leadership roles, DeFrance is an outlier. He found himself drawn to working in a school district after taking some education leadership classes.

"I made a lot of money," he said of his corporate career. "I met a lot of great people. But I wasn't making the impact I thought I could make."

Originally an outsider to the district − he worked as the chief operating officer of Flint Community Schools for two years before taking the Eaton Rapids job − DeFrance found himself becoming an integral part of the community over the past two decades.

DeFrance said part of his success came from his willingness to work with the community, but his main priority was always what was best for the students.

"We're trying to grow successful adults, on whatever terms they choose to define success," he said.

'I didn't think I'd be any good at it'

When DeFrance took the superintendent position in 2004, he was most concerned about the "community piece," as he put it. He knew it how important it was for the school district to have a strong relationship with the community for it to be successful.

"I didn't think I'd be any good at it," he said.

For DeFrance, it was crucial to invite the community into the schools. He wrote frequent columns for the two weekly newspapers in town.

"I would write everything from stories about kids and the events we had and I'd even cover some issues," he said. "I've spoken at a number of churches, just telling the community about the kids and what schools are like today."

His relationships and his openness to conversation have helped him a lot as superintendent. He's regularly stopped at the grocery store or at the gym, but he's never shied away from having conversations about the schools.

DeFrance thinks that being in the same role for decades makes people more trusting of him and allowed Eaton Rapids Public Schools to become an integral part of the community.

"We're kind of the center, people look to us for the concerts and the sports," he said. "That's a nice way for us to become part of the community."

DeFrance acknowledged that school districts have struggled with trust from their surrounding communities, and said some of that distrust came from people not knowing enough about what was actually happening.

"The more we can do to invite (the community) in and participate in events and have open houses and do things like that, the closer your view of schools is to reality."

'Exposing kids to differences ... to be successful'

DeFrance sees the job of a superintendent as very simple: to do what the law says and make sure kids have a safe and vibrant place to learn.

"You can say whatever you want to me, my job is to carry out the law," he said.

Eaton Rapids Public Schools has largely avoided the controversies that some other districts have faced about what topics are appropriate for the classroom. DeFrance, however, has been questioned on what the schools are teaching children, especially around sexual orientation and gender identity.

DeFrance said he sees it plainly: to educate the students about the topics that matter to them. A school-wide anonymous survey for 7th, 9th and 11th graders showed nearly half of those students questioned their sexuality at some point in their lives.

"It doesn't mean that they changed their sexual identity ... but some people experiment, right?" DeFrance said. "And so, are we going to ignore 45% of our students when they're asking questions and exploring? No, we're not going to do that."

DeFrance took a pragmatic approach to educating students about those different than them.

"If you look at our community, it's pretty homogenous, it's probably got about 10% racial minority," he said "Well, these kids are going to go to (Lansing Community College) and Michigan State, the complexion of the world is going to change real quick and in a few miles. And we need to be able to expose our kids to differences to be able to help these kids be successful and relate wherever they go next."

'It's kind of uncomfortable ...'

DeFrance plans to stay with the district until December, but his next steps are uncertain.

"I said I would stay until December, and I'm not in a big hurry, but it's kind of uncomfortable, not knowing what I'm going to do," he said.

He worries a little about giving up the position he's held for two decades and feeling "irrelevant."

"Can I handle being in a place where I worked for 20 years and, you know, I was the top dog?" DeFrance said. "And I will have to figure that out... If I'm irrelevant and nobody pays any attention to me and nobody bugs me?"

DeFrance is content with what he's leaving behind at the district, but wonders what his legacy will be.

"You do wonder, you know, how much of that will get better, and how much of that will be dismantled," he said. "But, at the same time, it was my decision to leave. It's just time for me to do something different."

DeFrance has been given opportunities to teach, which he's seriously considering. He also wants to continue his education advocacy work in the legislature.

"I'm going to teach a little bit and then I'm going to find something else to keep me busy so I don't bother my wife every day."

Brian Ross, the president of the district's Board of Education has worked with DeFrance for 16 of the 20 years he's served as superintendent.

"We've gotten used to having him around," he said. "It'll be strange that he won't be."

Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com, or follow her on X @sarahmatwood.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Bill DeFrance, Eaton Rapids Public Schools superintendent, to retire