Consultants with the School Exec Connect search firm were in District 153 schools this week gathering information from parents, staff and administrators about what attributes the next superintendent should bring to the job.

Superintendent Scott McAlister is retiring in June and the District 153 school board hopes to have his replacement selected by December. Consultant Brian Barnhart said since the superintendent’s job was posted several months ago, the firm has been “exceedingly pleased” with the number of candidates applying for the position and with their credentials.

Barnhart welcomed a handful of people to a community meeting Monday, Sept. 8. He said many of the comments offered were things he’d already heard, such as Homewood is a diverse community and people love their local schools. Also, the district deserves a great communicator who can share his/her message not only with staff and teachers but residents as well. 

Barnhart said he also will share with candidates the precarious financial situation of the district. Residents have three times supported referenda to provide more funding for schools, but wording on the last referendum question proved to be a blunder that required the district to petition the Illinois legislature for a language change.

One resident at the Monday meeting said his children went through District 153 schools and now his grandchildren are students here. He applauded the district for all that it has been able to provide students and said he always felt welcomed at the schools.

A mom said her children benefitted from “great academic programming and extracurricular programming.” Her older child was in the honors program saying, “I was very happy with the rigors of that.”

Another hoped for rigorous learning in the classroom. And another asked that the new superintendent have extensive teaching experience to be able to relate to staff and their classroom needs.

School Exec Connect consultants will compile their notes from these learning sessions and from an online survey and present their work to the school board at its 7 p.m. meeting Monday, Sept. 15, at James Hart School. The firm expects to be able to refine the search to five to seven candidates for the board to interview.