Geneva school superintendent tells board he's leaving in 2023

Geneva Unit District 304 Superintendent Kent Mutchler will be leaving the district at the end of his contract, effective June 30, 2023, according a letter he sent to the school board dated Monday.

"I will soon be earning my National Superintendent Certification and will be pursuing other options in educational leadership," Mutchler's letter stated.

School board President Taylor Egan said in an email late Monday that the board approved Mutchler's retirement after a closed session at Monday's meeting.

"This is something the board of education had prepared for, and we will be inviting executive search firms to publicly present at future meetings, before selecting a firm to lead the process," Egan said in his email. "We look forward to community input and incorporating stakeholder voices as we begin the search for our district's next superintendent."

Mutchler's pending departure originally was listed as a resignation, according to the agenda for Monday's board meeting. Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Adam Law contacted the Kane County Chronicle about 45 minutes after the board went into closed session to say that the agenda item stating Mutchler's resignation "was a clerical error."

"There are time we use the terms interchangeably, but we wanted to reflect the most accurate term," Law said.

Mutchler, who has been superintendent since 2006, and district spokeswoman Laura Sprague did not respond to a requests for comment.

According to his contract, Mutchler is making $244,534.64, not counting additional benefits, this academic year. His salary increases to $251,870.68 for the 2022-23 academic year.

As of June 30, 2023, Mutchler will have been superintendent for 17 years, qualifying him for a retirement benefit of $17,000, according to the contract.