That's one of the reasons why his decision to retire at the end of this school year has been a difficult one for him to make and for others to accept.

Perkins officially announced his plans to retire this summer at the February 1 Board ofEducation meeting.

"Clay is a class act and he will leave some big shoes to fill," said Board President Kathleen Sudia. "He has always had the best interest of our children at heart and that has always been his driving force in making our school district a better one. We have been fortunate to have Clay as our superintendent. He is a born leader and Davison has continued to excel under his leadership. We certainly thank Clay for his years of dedicated service to the children of Davison. He will be missed."

Fresh out of college in 1974, Perkins had just earned his University of Michigan teaching degree when he arrived in Davison one July day to apply for a job. But at the time it wasn't a teaching career that Perkins was seeking; he was waiting to hear back from one of the three Detroit-area colleges where he had applied to study law.

"When I got to Davison, I stopped in and gave my application to Marsha (Borrow), who was the personnel office secretary," Perkins recalled. "She said 'just a minute, let me give this to Mr. Hill.'"

Perkins waited for a few minutes before Bob Hill, the assistant superintendent at the time, called him into his office. After asking Perkins a few questions, he sent him over to see Pat Suriano, the principal at the time of Davison Junior High School.

Suriano asked Perkins a few questions and that was it - at least until a couple of days later when he received a call from the district offering him a job.

Perkins accepted and signed his contract. A couple of weeks later, he learned he had been accepted by two of the three law colleges he had applied to.

"I had fun when I had done my student teaching so I didn't give it too much thought," Perkins said. "I just figured I would teach for one year or so and then go back to law school."

Well, as they say, the rest is history. Perkins enjoyed teaching so much that he ended up staying in the classroom. He taught math at Davison Middle School until 1980 when he transferred to the High School to teach math and computer science. It was only a couple of years later he was selected to direct the district's technology department and was named computer coordinator. It was a position he held until 1989 when he left Davison to become Instructional Technology Coordinator for Kearsley Community Schools. In 1991, Perkins was named as the Director of Finance and Operations for Kearsley and eventually as acting superintendent in 1993. He worked for one year as the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations at Kearsley before coming back home to Davison in 1994 as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Personnel. In 2002, Perkins was named Superintendent.

"This school district has been an integral part of my life for 36 years," Perkins said. "Deciding to retire has certainly been a difficult decision."

Former Davison Schools Superintendent Robert Hahn worked alongside Perkins until he retired from the district in 2002.

"It was a genuine pleasure to be associated with Clay during the years I was superintendent," Hahn said. "He was a big asset to the district and to me, personally, because of his breadth of knowledge in so many different areas of school administration."

Hahn credited Perkins for the remarkable job he has done in preserving the academic integrity of the school district despite numerous cuts in school funding and the poor economy, which has made the job of superintendent even tougher.

"Clay is a very conscientious man who takes his job seriously," Hahn said. "He never stops thinking for a minute, I think, of what's best for Davison Schools and maintaining the level of excellence the community has really come to expect from the school district."

Perkins said he doesn't have any immediate plans following his retirement other than taking time to "decompress." But he didn't rule out anything for the future.

"If an opportunity presents itself that is particularly interesting to me that I somehow feel I can make a contribution to, then I might decide to do it," he said. "Or, I might just decide that I like being retired." Regardless of what he decides, retirement will definitely include traveling with wife, Laura, who retired three years ago as a teacher from Kearsley. Perkins also looks forward to having more time to spend with his 2-year-old granddaughter, Lilli, and his children.

A community retirement open house for Perkins will be planned for June.