First Step in D135 Superintendent Search Underway

Orland School District 135 is looking for input from parents and residents as they begin searching for a permanent superintendent.

Posted on the district’s website Thursday is an electronic survey from the Illinois Associations of School Boards, where people are encouraged to add their thoughts on a proper head administrator.

Take the superintendent survey here.

Four questions are multiple choice, with one asking for five top desired aspects of a new superintendent out of a list of 15. A space is at the bottom for written comments.

The school board formally hired the IASB to help with the superintendent search at . A tentative schedule given at the meeting shows candidate interviews – with people selected by the IASB out of the initial applicants – starting in early April, with a final selection for the position scheduled for early May.

Dawn Miller, IASB executive searches consultant, said Monday that this schedule is only tentative and could change.

Even with a tight timeline for selecting a superintendent, and a search starting later than other districts, Miller said she is confident that quality candidates abound.

“I know who’s out there right now, and there are some really good ones out there right now,” Miller said.

Miller, who has worked for the IASB for 19 years, said the association conducts 60 percent of such searches for school districts throughout the state.

“When I started doing this it was not unusual to have 100 applicants for a job,” Miller said on Monday. “You’d get 20 to 24 that are really good. Out of the 20 to 24, you’d get 10 or 12 you would interview. Then out of that we’d end up with five, six or seven we present to the board. We may have half as many total candidates as we did then, but we still end up with the 12 we interview and the five or six we give to the board. I’m convinced we can find top-notch people.”