The District 233 school board is inviting residents to join with Homewood-Flossmoor High School students, faculty and staff in selecting the next superintendent.
The board is forming a community panel of 12 to 15 people to engage with the top two or three finalists during the selection process. Persons interested can file a nomination form, or nominate someone who could serve. The deadline is noon on Monday, Sept. 9.
The nominating form is at surveymonkey.com/r/BQTYJQT.
Volunteers will participate in two virtual planning sessions during the weeks of Sept. 30 and Oct. 7. Afterward, panelists will meet with the finalist candidates in person on a specified interview day. Panelists will be asked to complete a survey with their feedback for the school board. The board is intent on protecting the confidentiality of the finalist candidates.
Superintendent Scott Wakeley is retiring in June 2025. Alma Group is conducting the national search for his replacement.
During the Aug. 20 school board meeting, member Steven Anderson said he was impressed with the candidates applying for the position. Board President Gerald Pauling thanked members Pam Jackson and Chris Riedel who have led the board’s search committee. He said the Alma Group “has been awesome” to work with.
In other business, the board approved the hiring of Catherine Ross-Cook as assistant director for curriculum and instructional equity for this school year. She was given a one-year contract at $127,000. An English teacher for 12 years, Ross-Cook was named a Golden Apple teacher in 2019. Since 2021, she served as the District 233 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) coordinator.
The board also accepted the resignations of two Career and Technical Education division teachers: Daniel Bullock, a professional chef who was part of the culinary program, and Benjamin May who was an auto shop teacher. The superintendent said “it is quite challenging” to fill CTE positions, more so than classroom teachers. The district is still searching to fill those positions and has taken stop-gap measures for this school year.
Principal Clinton Alexander said he “collapsed one teacher’s class into a smaller section” to accommodate welding students, and the small engine class dropped 41 students. Small engine is an introductory course, and Alexander said those 41 students were not pursuing a CTE curriculum.
Alexander also reported students have been following the board’s policy on the use of cell phones. During summer school a new policy was tested. It had students store their cell phones in a classroom cabinet during class.
The test showed improvements to the classroom environment. However, school administrators decided to stick with the current policy of mandating students keep their phones out-of-sight during class by storing them in backpacks, pockets, etc. Alexander said the re-commitment to the school board’s policy “is going really well.”