Oak Park Elementary School District 97 parents are interested in a new superintendent who values the diversity of an involved community, knows how to share power and can implement research-based programs responsibly.
“The superintendent needs to figure out how to build capacity across every single individual in this school district,” Lincoln Elementary School parent Gudelia Lopez said Feb. 17 at a community meeting for parents at Percy Julian Middle School.
The meeting, one of two conducted by Alan Leis, senior vice president for Hazard Young Attea and Associates to gather community input. It was attended by nine people, including District 97 Board candidates Marcus Croom and John Abbott.
Hazard Young Attea was hired to find a replacement for Albert Roberts, who in January tendered his resignation as of the end of the school year. The firm and the school board hope to have his replacement in place by early May. This is Hazard Young Attea’s fifth superintendent search for District 97.
The search firm also collected information through a survey on the district’s website. They were expected to deliver a profile to the District 97 Board at its Feb. 24 meeting.
Leis reported 15 people already have started applications, and Hazard Young Attea will continue recruitment through the end of March.
Participants were asked to consider three questions: What did they believe were the community’s strengths that would attract quality candidates, what were some of the challenges on which a new superintendent could improve, and what are some of the personal and professional characteristics they would like to see?
Diversity was the first thing that came to mind but was a double-edged sword because it is both a strength and a challenge, the participants said. The village and school’s district’s identity is tied strongly to inclusion, but participants said the reality doesn’t really live up to the hype.
“I do think we need to do a little work around how we action that and reflect that,” said John Greenleaf Whittier Elementary School parent Deidra Jenkins.
The district’s strengths, participants said, include close-knit individualistic communities centered around the schools.
“I have never heard so many different things going on at different schools, but we’re all on the same page,” Jenkins said.
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“If I’m late picking my child up, there’s always someone on the playground who can look after him,” said Lincoln parent Autumn Hamer.
The district’s weaknesses, participants said, include special education programs that fail to give students access to general education opportunities and sometimes force parents to move to get the services their youngsters need.
Other shortcomings include a disconnect between the district’s highly touted middle school international baccalaureate program and the curriculum at the high school, the perception that the district does not tap into the talent available in the community and failure to communicate the district’s vision.
“Inclusion is a word I moved here for,” said Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School parent Paula Kluth. “Oak Park is at the bottom of the barrel in the suburbs, and inclusion is what we’re known for … I almost moved twice because I expected to come to a place where all kids are appreciated.”
The new superintendent can expect to have a “very pronounced” parent-teacher-student partnership, Abbott said. Residents are, by and large, highly educated and articulate, he added.
“There are some people who can’t handle that and tune those people out,” he said. “This is not a community that is very well suited to a top-down managerial style. We don’t need somebody who is going to bark orders. That is a recipe for disaster.”