Gurnee’s Warren Township High School continues superintendent hunt
Warren Township High School is ready to move into a second phase in its hunt for a new superintendent.
John Anderson, president of the Gurnee-based Warren District 121 board, provided a search update during a recent meeting. Warren wants a superintendent to begin work July 1 for the 2013-14 academic year.
Mary Perry-Bates was appointed interim superintendent in June 2012 after Jeff Brierton resigned from the post before he ever started. Perry-Bates had been assistant superintendent and is set to retire June 30.
Anderson said the official application period has closed for those who wanted to become District 121’s next superintendent. He said Libertyville-based consulting firm BWP and Associates Ltd. is in charge of narrowing the field.
“We have somewhere between 20 to 30 candidates who have applied, as far as I know,” Anderson said.
BWP, which has retired Libertyville Elementary District 70 Superintendent Mark Friedman on its board of directors, has sought a strong, experienced educator to lead Warren. In an announcement to potential superintendent applicants, BWP called Warren “a high-achieving high school district in desirable Lake County, Illinois.”
Brierton received a severance package of more than $250,000 when he quit just before he was supposed to advance from a Warren principal to superintendent for the 2012-13 academic year. Hearty applause from Warren employees and others greeted Brierton after he was named District 121’s new boss by a unanimous school board vote in December 2010.
Phil Sobocinski retired as Warren’s superintendent on June 30, 2012. Sobocinski’s annual base salary went from $203,177 at the beginning of his final contract in the 2009-10 academic year to $228,290 when he departed.