Michael Phelps’ mother, Debbie Phelps (center), and sisters Hilary (left) and Whitney (right) smile in the stands after the men’s 100-meter butterfly on August 3, 2012. Debbie Phelps, until now the principal of Baltimore County’s Windsor Mill Middle School, is leaving to direct an education foundation that gets private donations for the county school system. Michael Phelps’ parents, who were high school sweethearts, divorced when their son was 9. Fred Phelps, a retired Maryland state trooper, remarried.