District 15 picks new superintendent

superintendent and administrative experience to succeed Superintendent Laurie Heinz.

They voted Monday to name Flossmoor School District 161 Superintendent Dana Smith to the post. He will start work July 1 under a three-year contract at an annual salary of $283,000.

Smith appeared at Monday’s meeting, shaking hands with school board members and hugging his predecessor, who is retiring after leading the district since 2019. He said he is proud to join such an engaged and student-centered community.

“I’m really excited to get started meeting all of you and connecting with the school community, so we can build on the great work that’s happened in the past and identify the next steps that we want to take as a school community,” he told the board.

The selection followed a months-long search process that included staff input, community surveys, focus groups and board discussions.

“Our community was clear about what they wanted in their next superintendent,” School board President Samantha Bray Ader, “a visionary and equity-driven leader with experience in diverse districts like ours, experience across the classroom, school and district levels and a deep commitment to students.”

She said the district also wanted a collaborative, communicative and transparent leader with strong budget oversight skills.

Smith brings to the district a background that includes experience as an assistant principal and principal in Valley View School District 365U and a principal and director of educational services in Mundelein School District 75.

Prior to being hired in Flossmoor in 2017, he was assistant superintendent for early childhood and elementary education in Woodstock Community Unit School District 200. District 15, with about 11,000 students, is larger than the preK-8 Flossmoor district, which serves about 2,300.

He will take over a district that has experienced significant changes under Heinz’s stewardship, highlighted by the successful passage of a $93 million referendum that led to massive facilities upgrades and instructional changes.

It is also a district facing fiscal challenges, many of them stemming from a delay in receiving property tax revenue from Cook County.

Smith cited the district's diversity, engaged families and high-quality staff as key factors in his decision. He said he jumped at the opportunity to follow Heinz, calling her “incredibly well respected.”

He said he believes in collaboration, building consensus and making good decisions within the budget while maintaining high expectations.