Glenbard superintendent finalist for Michigan job
Glenbard High School District 87 Superintendent Michael Meissen, who plans to step down at the end of the school year, is a finalist for a superintendent job in Michigan.
Meissen is one of three candidates seeking to become the top administrator at L’Anse Creuse Public Schools in Harrison Township, an affluent suburb just north of Detroit. The candidates are expected to be there late next week for a school district tour, community forum and interviews, L’Anse Creuse school board President Ken Hoover said.
Meissen announced in August he would leave District 87 at the end of his contract, which expires June 30, 2012. He hasn’t said why he decided to move on and, reached by phone Thursday, he said it would be premature for him to comment on the Michigan job while the process is ongoing.
Meissen joined Glenbard in 2006 after serving as a high school principal near his hometown of Madison, Wis. In 2008, he applied for other superintendent jobs in and around Madison so he could be closer to his family, he said at the time.
Later that year, Glenbard’s school board extended Meissen’s original three-year contract another three years, and in 2010, the board gave him a one-year extension. This school year he is scheduled to receive a base salary of $215,665.
For the Michigan superintendent job, Meissen will be up against Jacqueline Johnson, the superintendent for Huron Valley Schools in Michigan, and Renee Foose, the deputy superintendent for Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland.
A search firm working for L’Anse Creuse received more than 60 applications for the open position — a list that was narrowed to 12. On Wednesday, the school board reduced the list to the final three, Hoover said.
The school district encompasses 10 elementary schools, four middle schools, two traditional high schools, an alternative high school and an adult education center. The district is in its third phase of a $215 million building program approved by voters in 2005 in a bond referendum question.
Hoover said the school board is looking for a superintendent to focus on assessments and the district’s finances, which he said are in good shape compared to other school districts.
Meanwhile, the search for Meissen’s replacement in District 87 continues. School Exec Connect, a superintendent search firm, has been collecting resumes from interested candidates, while also completing focus group interviews with district stakeholders. A list of the top six candidates is expected to be presented to the school board during a closed meeting on Feb. 13, and interviews are scheduled for Feb. 15 and 18.
Glenbard board members have said they hope to announce their selection March 19.