Grayslake High lands replacement for retiring superintendent
Grayslake High School District 127 has selected a replacement for retiring Superintendent Catherine Finger.
District 127 board members Thursday night approved Mikkel Storaasli as superintendent starting with the 2017-18 academic year. Storaasli's first-year base salary will be $194,000 when he officially begins the job July 1.
Storaasli has been assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Leyden Community High School District 212 in Franklin Park since 2010. He said he's "excited and honored" to be joining District 127.
"To serve these amazing students in such a supportive (Grayslake) community, with this dedicated and professional staff, is a wonderful opportunity and privilege," Storaasli said.
As part of District 127's superintendent search, interviews for six finalists began in October. Consultant School Exec Connect, which has retired Highland Park/Deerfield High School District 113 Superintendent Linda Hanson heading Illinois operations, pared the applicants for Grayslake High.
District 127 board President Ann Dingman called Storaasli an exceptional educational leader and said she expects he'll continue a "culture of caring" for students in the two-school system.
Finger is heading toward the home stretch of her tenure as District 127's superintendent, which began in the 2005-06 academic season. Storaasli is expected to work with Finger on a transition before her retirement is official June 30.
An accomplished author who's bilingual in English and Spanish, Finger came to Grayslake from Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128, where she was associate superintendent. Finger was hired by District 128 in 1998 after three years as principal at Northwood Middle School in Highland Park.
Storaasli began his Leyden career in 1996 as a teacher in the math department and moved up to assistant principal and eventually assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.