Search for new District 15 superintendent reaches the listening stage

The search for a successor to Palatine Township Elementary District 15 Superintendent Laurie Heinz continues this week with a daylong series of informational meetings.

The district is holding a series of listening sessions with stakeholders Wednesday.

From 12:30-4 p.m., sessions will be held with district leaders, administrators and union leadership at the Educational Service Center, 580 N. 1st Bank Drive, Palatine.

Sessions for most staff will be held from 2:45-4:45 p.m. at Walter R. Sundling Middle School, 1100 N. Smith Street, Palatine. Early childhood and Conyers Learning Academy staff will be at Conyers, 2800 Central Road, Rolling Meadows, from 4:15-4:45 p.m.

Parents, guardians and the community will meet from 6:15-6:45 p.m. in the board room at Walter R. Sundling Middle School and in a virtual session from 7-7:30 p.m.

“Different stakeholders will have the opportunity to give input into what are the different skills, competencies, leadership capabilities that our next superintendent should have,” District 15 School Board President Samantha Bray Ader said.

She said questions will probably focus on the district’s current strengths, opportunities for improvement and the type of leader the district needs in a new superintendent.

The search is being conducted by Libertyville-based BWP & Associates, which the board chose last month at a base cost of $19,900.

Key consultants include a former state superintendent of the year, Mark Friedman, and a Northern Illinois University professor, Joe Porto.

The firm claims more than 500 successful national searches — including the search that brought Heinz to District 15.

During the Nov. 18 special meeting, Friedman said the firm made Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 mad seven years ago when it recruited Heinz away to work in District 15.

“Laurie will tell you she was not even thinking about another job,” Porto said.

Under the timeline presented by BWP to the board, the search could be complete by January or February, with a new superintendent hired by early February.