SUBMITTED

The Buchanan Community School District and the Buchanan Board of Education will host a series of daylong meetings with finalist Timothy Donahue on Tuesday, April 11.
Donahue will meet with several focus groups during the day, to be followed by a community open house at 6:15 p.m. in the Middle School Media Center.
Finalist Ryan Sines withdrew from the process Wednesday.
“I received a call from Mr. Sines early Wednesday morning letting me know he needed to withdraw from the search,” said search consultant Gary Rider. “He expressed his regrets for doing so after being invited for a second interview, but indicated an important family issue made it necessary for him to withdraw.”
Rider had already been in the process of conducting follow-up reference calls on both candidates and communicated his findings with board members individually Wednesday afternoon.
The board and the audience at Donahue’s first interview were supportive of his candidacy, and he surfaced as a lead candidate.
“We felt very fortunate to have had two outstanding and qualified candidates to consider,” said Buchanan Board of Education President Harvey Burnett. “However, there was no doubt that Tim stood out to everyone who attended his interview. He made an immediate connection with the board, staff and community members in attendance, and his qualifications for the job after serving as a superintendent for seven years were very impressive.”
The public is invited to meet Donahue at an open house from 6:15 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, in the Buchanan Middle School Media Center, 610 W. Fourth St. The board has scheduled a special meeting at 7 p.m. to consider his candidacy.
Timothy Donahue has served as superintendent for Potterville Public Schools for the past seven years. Prior to this work, he served as the high school principal at Potterville for two years. Donahue has an educational specialist degree from Oakland University, a master’s degree in English/technical writing from Wayne State University, and a bachelor’s degree in English teacher education from Michigan State University.