Board of education members in Flossmoor School District 161 have hired an interim superintendent for the remainder of the 2016-2017 academic year.
At a special meeting Wednesday, board members approved the appointment of Michael Popp as interim superintendent.
According to a press release issued Thursday by the school board, Popp will have a contract through June 30, 2017. He will take over the superintendent’s duties next week, the release says.
Popp’s hiring is the first of two appointments the board needs to make following last month’s approval of a separation agreement with Craig Doster, the District 161 superintendent for the last six years. The board has been working with a search firm, BWP and Associates, to find both an interim and full-time superintendent.
The board approved the separation agreement with Doster on Nov. 8. Doster had been on a leave of absence for three weeks prior to that vote. His contract with the district officially ends on Dec. 31, although he will be paid for the remainder of the current school year.
Popp is the former superintendent of the Aurora East School District 131. His two-year tenure in that position ended in June. Prior to that, he was executive director of teaching and learning at Indian Prairie School District 204, in Aurora, and the principal of Neuqua Valley High School, in Naperville.
According the press release, Popp “brings a wealth of experience to District 161 and will hit the ground running. He is very excited to be ‘joining the team at Flossmoor District 161.’”