District 204 names Birkett superintendent

Indian Prairie's new superintendent says she'll focus on three things: student achievement, communication and fiscal responsibility.

Kathy Birkett, who had been serving as deputy superintendent, outlined those priorities after being introduced Wednesday as the new top administrator in Unit District 204, which covers portions of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield.

Birkett has agreed to a three-year contract that begins July 1 and will pay her $231,000, including benefits, during the first year.

She was the only candidate considered to replace Stephen Daeschner, who is leaving the district at the end of the month with a year remaining on his contract to take a job in southern Indiana.

Birkett, who has served in various roles in the district since 1979, said she's ready to hit the ground running on each of her three priorities. She plans to start immediately by getting back out to the community.

"I think I immediately need to get out there to our constituency so I would anticipate you will see a full schedule of things that I will be at. You'll see a lot of reconnection with a lot of groups," she said. "I'm very fortunate that I know a lot of those individuals, so I think I can build on that, but I'm in a different role now. Nobody ever really wants to talk to the deputy and that's just a reality."

During the previous two years, she said, Daeschner "fit a very strong need" to look at data and student achievement. But she said she has heard the calls from both internal and external groups that communication is a must, right behind successful students.

"Student achievement will always be the number one priority. We will continue to drive the targets and goals that were set by the board. I've been driving them in the implementation phase at the district level," she said. "We're just getting student achievement data from the last set of tests so that will be very specifically analyzed and see where we need to go, building by building, student by student."

The financial piece, she said, will come as the new school year grows closer.

"I've been on the austerity committee this year where we did some of our cuts to put us in a better position," she said. "Now we need to all get together to take where we are now and go toward 2010-2011 and 2011-2012."

School board President Curt Bradshaw said the district is so confident in Birkett's ability to master all three of those goals, that she was the only candidate interviewed. He estimated the district saved about $60,000 by not conducting a national search.

"It became very clear to us that we had the right person here already and a national search, to some point, would be more for optics than anything else, just to be able to say that you looked under every rock in the nation and we already had the right person," Bradshaw said. "So we didn't want to spend a lot of energy once we figured we had the right candidate, and a lot of money, on the district's behalf."

Birkett joined the district as a physical education teacher in 1979 and climbed through the ranks.

She has served as deputy superintendent since 2007, where she has been instrumental in overseeing preparations for opening Fischer Middle School and Metea Valley High School, including staffing, equipment purchasing and facility planning.

Wednesday she expressed gratitude for getting the opportunity to grow professionally and she said she's excited about the new challenges she and her team will face.

"I am very humbled by this opportunity. I go into it knowing that I have a lot to learn, that the board and I need to develop a relationship and I can assure you I will be out there in the community getting a real good feel for what their needs and wants are and how we need to move forward," she said.

"You cannot move it by yourself. I've got to work internally with the people here, gotta work with (the press), and I've gotta work with our community at large and that's every building, every group and you do the best that you can."

She's got three years to prove herself and she's excited about it. When asked if she planned to fulfill the contract, Birkett said "Absolutely."

"You can write that down and put it in bold letters. I will fulfill my contract absolutely. I'm very committed to District 204," she said. "Nobody spends 30 years in a place that they are not committed to. I certainly hope that this is my last stop."

The board will sign Birkett's contract at its Monday night meeting. After the meeting, her contract will be posted on the district's Web site at www.ipsd.org.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=301290">What they're saying about Kathy Birkett<span class="date"> [X6/18/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>