We Lead Learning

Our Mission:

Kent ISD partners with our schools and communities providing enhanced and equitable opportunities to enrich the experiences and achievements of our learners.

Our Vision:

Building thriving communities through meaningful partnerships and equitable educational opportunities for all learners.

Our Values

• Relationships
• Learning
• Equity
• Opportunities
• Innovation
• Service
• Excellence

Kent ISD is a local educational service agency devoted to achievement for all students. We serve the community by helping our schools prepare students to be successful in work and life. Our primary customers are the students, teachers, staff and administrators of 20 public school districts, Christian and Catholic schools and Public School Academies.

We help districts devote more dollars directly to the classroom by providing essential services, collaborative initiatives and valuable learning for the region's students and teachers. Regional collaboration is the way we work, both with our school districts and our community partners.

As a result of our programs and services, we help the region's schools increase their capacity to serve students and boost achievement for more than 100,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Our History

Intermediate school districts were created in Michigan as a result of the 1962 Constitutional Convention. There are 56 intermediate school districts in Michigan which cover the 83 counties in the state. Kent ISD is the fourth largest ISD in Michigan and the largest outside of the Detroit metro area. We are governed by a five-member board elected by our twenty constituent district school boards. Board members serve six-year terms. Kent ISD’s primary mission is to serve the public and parochial school districts and children of the Kent ISD area.

Timeline of Establishment
 

• Kent County Board of Education organized August 19, 1947
• Kent Intermediate School District formed officially on March 16, 1963
• Kent Intermediate School District name adopted on March 16, 1963

Superintendents

• Lynn H. Clark 1935-47-Kent County Commissioner of Schools
• Lynn H. Clark 1947-61-Kent County Superintendent of Schools (deceased 04/91)
• Erwin J. Kleinert 1961-66 -Kent County Superintendent of Schools
• Roscoe E. Miner 1967-68 -Kent ISD Superintendent (deceased 12/13/68)
• Albert L. Deal 1969-78 -Kent ISD Superintendent (deceased 2/14/2008)
• LaVerne H. Boss 1978-84 - Kent ISD Superintendent
• George J. Woons, PhD 1984-01 - Kent ISD Superintendent (retired June, 2001)
• Michael S. Weiler 2001-06 -Kent ISD Superintendent (retired Dec 31, 2006) (deceased 06/23)
• Kevin A. Konarska 2007-2015 - Kent ISD Superintendent (retired June 30, 2015)
• Ronald Caniff 2015-2021 - Kent ISD Superintendent
• Ron Koehler-2021- Kent ISD Superintendent (retired June 30, 2024)
• Ron Gorman-2024 - Kent ISD Superintendent (present)