Itasca District 10 names new superintendent

Craig Benes, a teacher and administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, has been named new superintendent of Itasca Elementary District 10.

He will assume the helm in Itasca in July, replacing Superintendent Marcia Tornatore, who is retiring at the end of the school year, school board President Kathryn Miller said in a statement.

The school board approved a three-year, performance-based contract that will pay Benes a base salary of $175,000 for 2015-2016.

With the Chicago school system, Benes served in several leadership roles, including as a special-education teacher, assistant principal and a curriculum writer for the district with the Museums and Public Schools Project.

He is a graduate of the New Leaders for New Schools training program and served as a principal for six years at Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy. Most recently, Benes was a regional chief of schools with the Ravenswood Ridge Network, supervising more than 40 schools for the past four years.

Currently, Itasca school officials said, Benes is working in the CEO's office on several professional development projects for the district.

He is married to an educator and they are parents to three school-age children.