The qualities of Riverside School District 96’s next superintendent were prioritized at Wednesday’s board of education meeting at Blythe Park Elementary School.
Professionally, the next superintendent should possess leadership, communication and interpersonal, managerial, instructional, organizational and financial skills.
Personally, they should have integrity and be trustworthy, be a good decision-maker and problem solver, child-centered, committed to the community, a collaborator, and an active listener and critical thinker.
This is current superintendent Dr. Martha Ryan-Toye’s final school year, after more than a decade at the helm. The board of education is working with BWP & Associates Ltd., in Libertyville to identify, interview and hire Ryan-Toye’s replacement, ideally by December.
Dr. Mark Friedman, the organization’s president, is heading the search for the district’s new superintendent and presented the organization’s superintendent leadership profile report Wednesday based on multiple data points, including board member interviews, feedback from various focus groups and a confidential survey that drew 355 responses. That’s a lot in his world.
“For this district size, it exceeds what we would normally get,” Friedman said of the survey, adding that Saturday is the deadline for qualified candidates to apply at https://bwpassociates.com/searches/. Nevertheless, as of Wednesday, he had 40 applications from not only around Illinois, but across the nation as well. That could top out at 50.
“I think they do their homework,” Friedman said of the applicant pool. “A lot of people want small, nice communities.”
Friedman said BWP will start screening candidates next week and by Nov. 4 will present the board with a slate of six candidates, whom the board will interview shortly after that date. Two finalists will then be chosen, with a final decision anticipated in December and public announcement in January.
The big challenge for the board, Friedman said, will be coordinating time for the candidate interviews. For example, on Wednesday he recommended two days of interviews instead of one, considering each interview will be about an hour.
“You’re going to have six people to interview,” he told the board. “All day is a lot.”
The superintendent leadership profile report covered not only the characteristics the next superintendent should possess, but district strengths and challenges.
For example, the survey results show the district has excellent teachers and staff, a supportive community, academic achievement, available resources and supportive parents.
Conversely, the district is challenged by curriculum, educational options and programs, technology, instruction and facilities.
None of those things were really a surprise, said Dave Barsotti, chair of the board of education’s personnel committee.
“One thing that did catch me, the survey results and the community forum and interviews with the board and district staff, they don’t typically match up, but this time it did,” he said. “That is a good thing. I think it will make the interview process easier, because we’re not going to be back between what did the survey say and what did the interviews say.”
Board member Dan Hunt agreed.
“It’s good to see there is alignment between the board and the community,” Hunt said, adding that board president Wesley Muirheid mentioned at the meeting “how similar what the board’s request list was and what the community desires. It was good to see so many people responding.”
The next step is the interviews and Hunt said the plan is to not do six interviews in one day. But he said that process would be intense since a lot is riding on the final decision. Friedman asked each board member to prepare two questions they would pose to each candidate and one alternate.
“It’s not as in depth as a normal job interview, but this isn’t a normal job interview,” Hunt said. “We’ll do our research on the candidates in advance to get the best impression going forward.”