Saying it was time for him to go after more than five years, Wake County Schools Superintendent Bill McNeal announced Tuesday that he is retiring from the job of leading one of the nation's largest school systems.

McNeal, 58, will leave June 30, giving the board several months to look for a replacement. The new superintendent will take over a district dealing with explosive growth, fights for more funding, challenges maintaining its high academic performance and criticism over the theft of millions of dollars.

"I believe I've done my part where someone else will find this district is in good shape," said McNeal, who was national superintendent of the year in 2004.

McNeal will become executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators, an advocacy organization for superintendents, principals and other school leaders. He said the association approached him a few months ago to take over when Jim Causby, the executive director, retires. He said talks intensified over the past month, and he accepted the job because he can stay in education and still live in Raleigh.

McNeal said he began telling board members a week ago about his plans to retire.

By staying through June 30, he will get a bonus of about $200,000. The board agreed to the bonus in 2002, equal to 25 percent of his salary for each of the next four years, to keep him in Wake. In September, the board tweaked McNeal's contract so he couldn't be denied the bonus if he announced plans to leave but chose to stay through June 30. He also was given a 2.24 percent raise to $212,852 annually.

School board chairwoman Patti Head said the board will begin discussing how to pick a replacement after three new members take office Dec. 6. She said the board would like to name a successor before McNeal leaves but had not decided whether to conduct a national search or find internal candidates.

When McNeal was hired in 2000, the board chose to conduct only an internal search. But this time, there's no obvious internal candidate. McNeal said he wouldn't recommend a replacement or a hiring plan.

But Head said Wake won't have difficulty finding applicants to lead a 120,507-student district that is the 23rd-largest in the nation. It has grown by 16,134 students in the past three years.

McNeal oversaw the passage of two construction bond issues during his tenure. The board will have to find a new superintendent to lead Wake through a vote on another bond issue scheduled for November 2006.

"They'll find someone great, and things will continue to progress," said McNeal, who offered little else on why he decided to announce his retirement now.

Board members were surprised at the timing of the announcement but insisted the district would move forward.

"It's not what I would have chosen at this time, but we have to respect his decision," Head said. "But we'll do what we have to do."

Hopes for the future

Groups that have been critical of McNeal, especially for his support of assigning some students to limit the number of low-income children at each school, were diplomatic Tuesday.

"He tried to do what he thought was best for the education of the children," said Dave Duncan, vice president of Assignment By Choice, which favors giving parents more choice where their children go to school. "We wish him well in his future endeavors."

Duncan, who said McNeal had listened to the group to allow more public input on reassignment, hopes McNeal's successor will listen even more to the group's concerns.

While the new superintendent probably won't have McNeal's intimate knowledge of the district, school board member Beverley Clark said the board would be able to find a capable leader to carry on McNeal's policies.

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