Thank you to those in our audience, including parents, teachers, and interested community members, who have come out tonight seeking information and wanting to share comments about the Board's anticipated actions following Dr. Mary Herrmann's March 8, 2010 announcement of her early retirement.

We realize many of you have questions and/or comments you'd like to make to the Board about various issues related to our leadership transition. Let me try to answer some of the questions up front.

Interim Superintendent Appointment and Superintendent Search Process

• Tonight, we will take action to consider the appointment of former Libertyville District 70 Superintendent Dr. Mark Friedman to serve as interim superintendent for 2010-2011 school year.  Since January 2010, Mark has served as a special projects consultant, providing additional administrative support to assist in the implementation of key initiatives, including teacher supervision and development, differentiated classroom practices, and principal coaching.  Dr. Friedman was one of several well-qualified candidates the Board interviewed for that position. We have been pleased with his team-building ability, as well as the demonstration of his strong knowledge of teacher and principal leadership since joining the District just two months ago.


• Dr. Friedman is assisting the School Board in developing a solid leadership transition plan. The District is fortunate to be able to rely on his expertise and leadership to ensure that we maintain our focus on quality education and operational excellence as we move forward throughout this transition.
  As part of his role, Mark will also assist the Board in devising an appropriate process to hire a new permanent superintendent. We are committed to developing and implementing a superintendent search process that is inclusive, transparent, and well planned.
  In the spirit of transparency, I want to acknowledge that while employed as the Libertyville superintendent, Dr. Friedman also served as a principal at BWP, a search firm that specializes in educational leadership placements.  He continues to serve in this role. I want to be clear that while we absolutely anticipate that District 36 will use an external consultant to assist in our search for a new permanent superintendent, we will work to avoid any perceived or real conflict of interest.
  In response to our proactive communication on this matter, the Board has already begun to receive thoughts from the Winnetka 36 community regarding desired qualifications and the search process for our next superintendent.  We are committed to providing opportunities for and encouraging robust public and parent participation in the search process, once it is underway. Though Mark may touch on this process in his update later in tonight's meeting, be assured that we will begin to seek input from the public, administrators, and other staff as soon as the calendar allows.


• Illinois pension laws limit the public education employment of retirees from the Teachers' Retirement System, such as Dr. Friedman, to 120 days or 600 hours per academic year. As such, within the next 30 days, the Board will take further action to appoint a co-superintendent who will share interim leadership responsibilities with Dr. Friedman.


• A co-interim leadership model is not uncommon and provides us the ability to leverage the skills of experienced educational administrators, while also building a transition team that possesses the specific skill sets needed by our District. Indeed, in the past several years, a co-interim model has been used successfully to facilitate transitions in Mundelein High School District 120, Glenbard High School District 87, and North Shore School District 112.

Dr. Herrmann's Retirement

• Dr. Friedman's interim appointment follows current Superintendent Dr. Mary Herrmann's March 8 announcement that she will retire from District 36 to accept a position as superintendent of Clayton Public Schools in Clayton, Missouri.  The Board will take formal action tonight to accept Dr. Herrmann's retirement, effective June 30, 2010.

Crow Island School Interim Principal Announcement And Curriculum Director Search

• Tonight the Board will take action on the appointment of current District 36 Curriculum Director Dr. Julie Pfeffer as interim principal of Crow Island School for the 2010-2011 academic year.
  One of five internal candidates for the position, Dr. Pfeffer was selected by a committee that included representatives of District 36 administration, Crow Island School staff, parents, and a Board member. She joined District 36 as a classroom teacher at Hubbard Woods School in 1993 and has served as curriculum director since 2002. Dr. Pfeffer had previously served as part-time co-principal at Crow Island School, providing additional administrative support when principal Deidre Churchill worked to complete her doctoral degree last year.
  To address the vacancy created by Dr. Pfeffer's appointment, the Board directed Dr. Friedman to begin an external search process with the goal of having a new hire in place on or before July 1, 2010. He is currently working to finalize the job description, and will facilitate both an internal posting and external national advertising for the position.

Carleton Washburne School Principal Search Status

• We are finalizing the search for a new principal for Carleton Washburne School, a vacancy that resulted from Dan Schwartz's resignation. An announcement is expected at the District's April 27 Board meeting.  The Board and Dr. Herrmann had previously decided that while Dr. Herrmann will remain involved in a consultative role, Dr. Friedman has assumed leadership for finalizing this process.

3-23-10 Agenda

• As we look to support continued growth and evolution in our District's excellent teaching and learning environment, we seek District and school administrative leadership with particular skills and expertise in the articulation and implementation of a change management process that is inclusive, motivational, and proactive. The Board and Administration will work together to ensure minimal disruption to District and school operations as we transition to new leadership.


• During last week's study session focusing on the strategic plan, we realized from the public comments that there is some loss of message continuity as members of the public do not attend every meeting, So, let me provide a brief overview of the District and the Board business these past months and how we will remain true to our purpose.
  Even as transition issues are addressed, we remain vigilantly focused on the Board, District, and superintendent goals previously established for this year.  This year's goals include differentiation, strategic planning, teacher evaluation, communications, strategic planning, and visitor management.  During our meeting tonight, educators will speak about progress on each of these goals. The Board remains confident District 36 is on the right path.


• Through our meetings and communication month-in and month-out, we actively seek to support the important work being done by the more than 300 teachers, administrators, custodians, secretaries, and aides who are committed to making each day the best it can be for our community's children. The Board supports these efforts through our own formalized goals established in December, which target our attention specifically to policy governance, resource allocation, planning oversight, and superintendent goals.


• Throughout the upcoming leadership transition, the Board will endeavor to stay very focused on the regular business of the district so that each matter we entertain has the highest impact for furthering education for this community.


• Finally, please know that we try our level best to be informed about the work the community entrusts to do on its behalf.  However, we do not pretend to believe we have all or the only answers to the issues that come before us, and that is why we value our community comment time.  For example, last week's public comment provided valuable information on how to improve the next draft of the strategic plan before engaging the broader public. Public comment is generally a time for the Board to listen and consider alternative views and questions. We jot down ideas, think, pause, and consider individually before taking further action on the matters raised before us a collective body.

by Nancy Fehrenbach, Board President, on March 23, 2010

This School Board meeting can be viewed in its entirety on the School Board Meeting Podcasts page:
http://web.winnetka36.org/schoolboard/meetings