The national search for Orland School District 135’s new superintendent is underway with the posting of the position on various educational websites and a survey for board members, parents, staff members and community members on the district’s website.
The main part of the survey lists 15 qualities in a prospective superintendent and members of the public are asked to choose five they feel are the most important.
There are also two yes/no questions asking if it’s important that the potential superintendent has previous experience as a superintendent in a comparable district and if it’s important that the prospective superintendent will live in the district.
There is also an optional comment section, which allows for comments that the Illinois Association of School Boards will compile and the District 135 board members will read.
The survey will be posted until Feb. 29 and board members will review the results and discuss them at the board’s March 12 meeting.
The rest of the timeline for the search is “on paper and not set in stone” according to Dawn Miller, the executive consultant of the IASB, which is assisting the district in the search.
But the tentative dates are March 26 as the final date for applicants to apply, the week of April 2 for the search team to review applications and interview candidates and the week of April 9 to recommend candidates to the board in closed session. After various interviewing processes the board hopes to have a superintendent named in May.
However, Board President John Carmody has stated that the board won’t be rushed in a decision and said that all seven board members must agree on the choice or they will start a new search.
Board members at a special meeting Jan. 30 said that they wanted someone with elementary school experience.
“They need experience from the bottom up,” board member Tom Cunningham, who went through the hiring process of two previous superintendents, said. “If it’s a principal, a superintendent or a an assistant superintendent, they need to come up through the ranks.’’
Board member Joe LaMargo said that a candidate with high school administrative experience could still be considered as long as he or she also had elementary school experience.
According to the district, the base salary is in the $147,000-range for 5,000 student in 10 buildings, which is a cost of $29 per student.
The vacancy for the job occurred in early January, when the board honored Paul Howell’s request to transition from superintendent to the curriculum department. The board hired former superintendent Dennis Soustek as interim superintendent.
