Community Input Launches Superintendent Search
The Board of Education will be seeking broad input from the staff and the community as it conducts a search for a new superintendent to replace Dr. Larry Hewitt when he retires at the end of the school year.
The board is working with the educational search firm School Exec Connect to assist in the superintendent search process. ExecConnect consultants Dr. Linda Yonke, a retired superintendent from New Trier High School who lives in Northbrook, and Dr. Devon Horton, superintendent of Evanston/Skokie District 65, met with the board during a Committee of the Whole meeting Aug. 24 prior to the regular meeting.
The firm will conduct an online survey and focus groups with stakeholders to create a New Superintendent’s Profile that will be used to develop a slate of candidates. The process will begin with the online survey Sept. 20-Oct. 12. Parents, staff and the community will be invited to participate.
Dr. Yonke and Dr. Horton will also hold focus groups with staff, students, parents and community members on the district’s strengths, challenges, and characteristics the next superintendent should possess. The focus groups will be held in person and virtually Sept. 20-Oct. 8.
Findings from the survey, open forums and focus group conversations will be used to develop the New Superintendent Profile that will be presented to the board at its Oct. 26 regular meeting.
The board’s most important consideration is securing the strongest candidate pool and ultimately hiring the right person who will lead the district with the vision, values and support our exceptional team of teachers and staff. To ensure the deepest candidate pool, the Board will conduct confidential interviews. The firm will present a slate of candidates that will be interviewed by board members in late November. The final interviews will be held in early December with a target of appointing a new superintendent by early 2022.
SchoolExec Connect has recently worked with a variety of districts including Deerfield District 109, Elmhurst District 205, Barrington District 220 and Park Ridge-Niles District 64.