Probable candidates revealed for Dist. 300 top job

The pool of internal candidates to replace retiring Community Unit District 300 Superintendent Ken Arndt could include the associate superintendent, a high school principal and the chief financial officer.

Besides Arndt, who will retire at the end of the next school year, there are nine district employees who are qualified to serve as a school superintendent, according to District 300.

Of the nine, six explicitly denied they had applied for the job. The remaining three are Associate Superintendent David Scarpino, Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Crates and Jacobs High School Principal Michael Bregy.

Board President Joe Stevens would not confirm those names on Wednesday or even say how many had applied, although in the past he has referred to candidates in the plural.

None of the three confirmed whether they'd applied.

"Right now, all the questions are being responded to by the president of the board of trustees," Scarpino said.

Bregy and Crates also deferred to Stevens for comment.

The three possible candidates come from markedly different backgrounds, but all are in the sixth year of their current position, and all were brought to the district by Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the Glenview-based search firm the district has hired to help conduct the superintendent search.

Scarpino is alone among the three in having served previously as a superintendent. Scarpino led three Wisconsin school districts before District 300 hired him.

Crates is regarded as a school finance expert and was a driving force behind the successful push to pass two tax increases in 2006. She previously was an assistant superintendent in Arizona.

Before becoming principal of Jacobs, Bregy was assistant principal at the Algonquin high school and previously taught at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

While Bregy would not specifically say if he had applied for District 300's top post, he said earlier this year that he wanted to serve as a school superintendent.

Besides Scarpino, Crates and Bregy, the full list of qualified employees includes: Director of Curriculum and Professional Development Valorie Moore, Dundee-Crown High School Assistant Principal Basilio Salazar, Eastview Elementary School special education teacher Jane Halligan, Parkview Elementary School third grade teacher Cynthia Marceau, Neubert Elementary School Principal Darlene Warner and deLacey Family Education Center Assistant Principal Cynthia Maxwell.

The school board hopes to decide whether to hire one of the internal applicants or seek someone outside the district by the end of May.

Stevens said Wednesday the board had not yet narrowed the pool; the board was scheduled to begin a third round of interviews on Wednesday.