Zeeland superintendent won't see year 2

ZEELAND, Mich. (WOOD) - The superintendent of Zeeland Public Schools has resigned.

Dave Barry's resignation, effective June 30, was accepted by the Zeeland school board at a special meeting Monday.

"Despite the best of intentions and efforts by all parties, it is time to make a change. As a result, Dr. Barry will pursue other opportunities, and the school board will begin a search process for a new superintendent," a joint statement from the school board and Barry reads.

Barry served only one year as superintendent of Zeeland Public Schools.

School board president Tom DenHerder said that though Barry is "a passionate educator who cares deeply about our students' academic success," his approach was "not a good fit" with the district.

In May, Barry was caught plagiarizing the text of a blog in an employee newsletter. He copied 396 words of the 437 in the blog verbatim into the newsletter, at the bottom of which his name was signed.

Shortly thereafter, he was suspended for two weeks without pay by the school board because of the incident, which he called a "mistake."

That incident was not mentioned in the release announcing Barry's resignation.

Assistant superintendent for business services David VanGinhoven will serve as acting superintendent until an interim superintendent is named.

Barry released the following statement:

As a first-generation college graduate, I continue to be passionate about seeing students excel to a higher level and move on to complete post-secondary training. With that in mind, I applaud the ZPS staff and administrators for their hard work in taking these steps forward in 2012-2013:

* The reform of high school curriculum called the Z plan
* The creation of our Z-Quest year-round school, which launches this August
* The availability of high school course options at the middle school level
* The Ipad roll-out
* The new k-12 evaluation system for all students in the core areas
* The partnerships formed with local businesses

I believe in my role as Superintendent, I helped foster a community dialogue about college readiness in a global economy for all students through video, District newsletters, and a variety of conversations.

This year has provided me with many leadership opportunities that facilitated much personal and professional growth. The confidence the District put in me was greatly appreciated. In serving the District and the students of Zeeland, I hope I met the standard of measure more times than not. In closing, let me wish the District, and community my best in the years ahead. I am excited with the initiatives started to increase student achievement and the fact that Zeeland is a place my children and family call home.