Superintendent's future could hinge on District 204 board race

When Stephen Daeschner signed his three-year contract as the new superintendent of Indian Prairie Unit District 204 in February 2007, he thought he'd sign at least one more before retiring.

Now, with a little more than a year and about $266,235 remaining on his deal, Daeschner's future in the district may be on shaky ground.

Officials have discussed extending Daeschner's pact, but recently postponed those conversations until after the April 7 election when as many as four new school board members may be elected.

"When I came here two years ago, I certainly did so with the intention of sticking around a while and signing an extension or two," Daeschner said Wednesday. "But if the board changes and situations change in April, others may have different plans for me. But as of now, I'd like to keep going."

Many of the candidates shared their feelings on Daeschner during recent endorsement interviews with the Daily Herald. Their views ranged from full support of the superintendent to those who appear ready to have him pack his bags.

Those who support Daeschner point to his goal-driven demeanor and the academic success students have achieved during his tenure.

Those ready for him to go point to his sometimes less than politically correct answers and question his judgment and handling of a recent incident where two middle school students were accused of sexually assaulting a classmate at a home off campus.

"At this point in time, I don't see evidence from what I've been able to gather to make an assessment that I would extend him at this point," candidate Doug DiFusco said. "From an academic standpoint, test scores are very good, but you can't excuse the other things we've seen as well. I don't get the warm and fuzzy feeling that would make me feel comfortable answering 'yes' at this point."

Don Moscato agreed, saying he is disappointed with Daeschner's handling of the middle school incident and his rush to open Metea Valley High School in time for the coming school year.

"There are just qualities that don't sit well with me, of his leadership," he said. "If everyone reports to him and he reports to the board, that trust isn't there with me right now so I couldn't keep him around."

Eric Hepburn criticized Daeschner's leadership.

"For me, the choice is very clear, both from a school board perspective and an administration perspective. When you look at people that comprise the board and the administration, you have to look for leadership in those people and I think, over the course of the last two or three years, there's been a clear lack of leadership," he said. "From a leadership perspective, he is one of the key people that could have made that happen and he simply has not done that."

None of the candidates, however, has been more outspoken against Daeschner than Mike Strick. Strick has called for Daeschner's ouster at every candidate event thus far.

"I believe that Dr. Daeschner has made several mistakes in our district. Basically the biggest mistake relates to this poor child that was allegedly abused and Dr. Daeschner said that he had to do what the law told him to do instead of running with his conscious like most people would do and moving this student to another school," Strick said. "So I would not be able to vote to retain Daeschner. Hopefully they have not done so already on the school board."

Board President John Stephens confirmed Thursday that the board has reviewed Daeschner's contract but has no plans to extend the deal before the election.

"I believe Dr. Daeschner is 100 percent behind that decision, too," Stephens said. "Honestly, other things relating to education of our students have become more important than that."

Not all of the candidates are holding the door open for Daeschner. Several, including the two incumbents seeking re-election who have worked closely with the superintendent, said they would be happy to extend his deal.

"We have not voted to extend his contract at this point but that is a process we are in the middle of," said incumbent Cathy Piehl. "My overall picture of Dr. Daeschner is a man with a great vision of the district and he has pinpointed our weaknesses and knows how to make the most of the resources that are available to us. I absolutely think he's leading us in the right direction."

Christine Vickers was one of the board members who originally voted to hire Daeschner. Given a chance, she said she would do it again in the form of a renewed deal. She praised his data analysis skills and his energy and drive to be the best.

"I'm really excited about where we're going vision-wise because we have the resources to take this district to the next level and be just as good if not better than (Naperville Unit District) 203," she said. "The man has 42 years experience and I can see that he does know this business by the information he delivers to the board on a regular basis."

Newcomers Susan Rasmus and Janey Wagner also gave Daeschner glowing recommendations based on their personal interactions with him.

"From a parent's point of view, when I see him speak, I'm very impressed with the data he gives," Rasmus said. "I'm impressed with his targets and goals he puts out there. I like that he talks about taking kids who meet test standards and making them students who exceed."

Wagner does not have children in the district but said she was impressed with Daeschner's drive to make full-day kindergarten a reality. She also said she likes his "hands-on" approach in the schools.

"I have seen some good things come from Dr. Daeschner," she said. "He is a little older than what we've had in the past, but that's not bad. It just means he comes with experience."

A more tepid endorsement came from Dawn DeSart, who after thinking about the question said she "could work with" Daeschner.

"I think the school board needs to wrangle Dr. Daeschner in more and realize they are his boss," she said. "But I think if you ask parents, I think people are pretty happy with the education District 204 offers."

Candidates Jerry Huang and Mark Rising indicated they'd like Daeschner to justify why the board should extend his pact.

"I would hope a new school board would come in, specifically to Dr. Daeschner and the whole administration, and effectively ask them why each of them should keep their job," Huang said. "Particularly in Dr. Daeschner's case there could be pieces of information, because we're not school board members yet, being withheld from us. I would say we would need to get that information and make the correct decision based on all of that information."

Rising is calling for yearly reviews and said he would need to discuss the situation with other district staff.

"He seems like he's got a wealth of experience but I would need to see if he has achieved the goals he has set since he was brought on and evaluate from there. I would also need to have discussions with other school board members as well and hear their thoughts and collectively decide if his contract should be renewed or not," he said.

Either way, Daeschner says he's still going to show up at work every day until someone tells him otherwise.

"We've got kids to educate and jobs to do," he said. "And I'm committed to seeing those things through."