Colon looking for new superintendent

St. Joseph County’s second-smallest K-12 school district is looking for a new leader, as Colon Community Schools Superintendent Christine Barnes has announced her plan to resign effective Aug. 1.
Barnes, 53, has spent the past two years as chief of Colon Community Schools. She previously served as principal at Constantine High School.
An Iowa native, Barnes said she has accepted a job as superintendent of Keokuk Community Schools, a community on the Mississippi River, about the size of Sturgis and school district of close to 2,000 students.
More importantly, however, Barnes said the move to her home state was triggered by a need to help care for her husband’s parents, who live in the Keokuk area and find that their health needs require the aid of their son and daughter-in-law.
Barnes, whose salary for the 2016-17 school year was $100,000, said it is with a heavy heart she will leave St. Joseph County and especially Colon Community Schools.
Colon Community Schools has an enrollment of fewer than 600 students and in recent years has taken a significant hit because of the school-of-choice option. A number of its students have opted to Centreville, Athens and Mendon.