District 15 settles on superintendent search firm
In the end, Palatine Township Elementary District 15 went in a familiar direction.
The board voted 3-1 on Thursday to hire Libertyville-based BWP & Associates to lead a nationwide search for a new superintendent.
It's the very same search firm that introduced the district to current Superintendent Robert McKanna and District 211 to Superintendent Roger Thornton.
"I hear them talking about finding the best fit for us," said board member Wendy Rowden. "They're going to work to understand the culture here."
Glenview-based search firm Hazard Young Attea & Associates officially withdrew from the search because board member Gerald Chapman works for the firm.
The board turned down the Illinois Association of School Boards, even though its fee was only $10,000 -- $8,000 less than BWP's -- and the organization heads about half of the superintendent searches in the state each year.
"They do a lot of quantity, but they're mostly smaller districts that don't typically have the same needs as us," board President Tim Millar said, noting that District 15 has about 13,000 students and 1,200 on staff.
BWP also beat out School Exec Connect in Highland Park, which would have charged $17,500. Board members felt the company may be too small and rely too heavily on advertising to round up candidates.
The only dissenter was board member Kelly Keenan, who thought BWP's history with McKanna and Thornton presented a lot of the same issues as the firm Chapman works for.
"It makes me uncomfortable," she said.
The board responded that many retired superintendents and administrators work for these types of firms; they're bound to run in the same circles.
Millar was impressed with BWP's experience and extensive networking base. The company has regional offices across the U.S., yet about 80 percent of the candidates it recruits are Midwesterners.
And BWP said to expect a lot of interest.
"You don't need to worry about attracting some high quality folks to run this organization," said Dr. Darrell Dick, one of the project leaders for BWP.
Palatine resident Mary Vanek, who has two kids at Pleasant Hill School, told the board how bothered she was by last week's vote to hire Chapman's firm. But she doesn't have an issue with its connection to BWP.
"It's a totally different ballgame," Vanek said. "You go to the HYA Web site and see (Chapman's) picture and that he's listed as a senior associate, treasurer and board member. I'm still livid that firm got as far in the process as it did."
But Jen Zold, a parent of two kids in District 15, agrees with board member Keenan.
"What we could have used was a fresh firm that didn't have as many links to the district," Zold said. "We've been through some rough spots as a district and it'd be nice to start fresh."
Chapman, Jim Ekeberg and Nancy Carlson were absent from the meeting.