Dist. 10 superintendent search heats up

The search to replace outgoing Itasca schools chief Kenneth Cull is wrapping up, with his successor expected to be named in about a month.

Itasca School District 10 President Nancy DiCiolla said Friday the search firm hired by the district has presented the school board with the top six candidates from a large pool.

"We don't know yet exactly how many total applicants we did have, but the six we were presented with appear to be fine," DiCiolla said. "We heard from our (firm) representatives that it was a large pool and that the Itasca position appears to be a very desirable job in the field."

Calls placed to Buffalo Grove-based BWP Associates, which handled the search, were not returned Friday.

Board member Leslie Dyra, who also heads the superintendent search committee, said all six candidates will be scheduled for interviews in the coming weeks. During that time, Dyra said, the slate will be carved down to the most desirable two or three candidates.

"When we get to that point, we'll have some more detailed interviews and introduce the remaining candidates to the stakeholders," she said. "We should know something and have an announcement by the (Feb. 13) board meeting."

District officials have stated that each of the district's three principals meet the educational requirements to apply for the position. None of the three were available Friday, and board members would not say whether any internal candidates made the cut.

"Throughout the process, it has been stressed that this is a confidential process, and I want to make sure we're extending the same courtesy to everyone," Dyra said.

Cull cited professional differences with DiCiolla for his decision to retire after the current school year, two years short of the end of the four-year contract he signed Feb. 9, 2006. He reached the decision after months of discussion with his family members.

Cull joined the district July 1, 2003, from Schaumburg Elementary District 54, where he served as associate superintendent of personnel. The extension he and the district agreed on was to have kept him in Itasca through 2010 at a base salary of $146,503.