By AARON MUELLER
Niles Daily Star

The Niles Board of Education narrowed its field of candidates to two Wednesday night.
Tina Templin, the superintendent of DeWitt Public Schools, and Richard Weigel, the assistant superintendent of Ypsilanti Public Schools were selected to come back to Niles for tours of the schools and further interviews.

In a meeting open to the public, the board discussed each of the five candidates. There were originally six before William Eis of Potterville dropped out of the race to take another job.
All of the board members were in agreement that Templin and Weigel were the most experienced candidates with the most knowledge of the challenges the school faces.
Board president Dana Daniels was impressed with Weigel’s application and interview.
“He was passionate,” he said. “His answers were superb, and he has a great number of contacts throughout the state.”

Board treasurer Michael Waldron was impressed with his sense of humor and “focused and relevant” answers to questions.

Trustee Jeff Curry appreciated Weigel has worked with a large budget and dealt with “some painful things,” like budget and staff cuts.

The board also was in complete agreement in bringing Niles Senior High School grad Tina Templin back for a second interview.

“She’s a leader that leads by example and engages the staff to be a part of her vision and goals,” board secretary Elaine Miller said. Miller also was impressed with Templin’s marketing of schools of choice, an important issue for Niles Community Schools in the coming years.
Daniels called her “the strongest candidate” and said she seems to “bleed Niles blue.” He also pointed to DeWitt’s 98 percent graduation rate and her involvement in strategic planning.
Curry called Templin “battle tested” and was impressed with her knowledge of state politics and experience working with legislators in Lansing.

Before the meeting that narrowed the field to two, the board interviewed Joseph Murphy, superintendent of Kingston Community Schools.

Weigel and Templin will be invited back to Niles next week for tours of the buildings, meet and greets with faculty, staff and the community and another interview.

The board hopes to name its new superintendent the week of March 1 with a proposed start date of July 1.