‘The right person for the job’: Mundelein districts 75, 120 select superintendent to lead
Two Mundelein school districts working in tandem have hired a new superintendent to continue leading them under a shared-services model adopted in 2019.
The school boards of Mundelein High School District 120 and Mundelein Elementary District 75 in a joint special meeting Tuesday unanimously named Corey Tafoya, superintendent of Harvard Community District 50, to succeed retiring Superintendent Kevin Myers beginning July 1.
Tafoya was chosen from more than three dozen candidates capping a process that began in January 2024 with the hiring of BWP & Associates to conduct a comprehensive national superintendent search.
The list was narrowed and four candidates were interviewed last month.
District 120 board President Peter Rastrelli said there was remarkable alignment and consensus on Tafoya.
“The more we got to know him, the more we realized he was the one,” Rastrelli said in the district’s announcement. “There’s something very approachable and very outcome-focused with him, but with a balanced approach.”
District 75 board President Kristie Fingerhut said Tafoya will fit seamlessly in the role.
“We have the right person for the job,” she said.
Tafoya was signed to a five-year contract with a starting base salary of $292,000 as top administrator for both districts.
Tafoya has been District 50 superintendent since July 2017. He previously served three years as assistant superintendent for Crystal Lake High School District 155 and as Woodstock High School principal from 2005 to 2014.
Tafoya, who is bilingual, said programs like dual language and AVID, which readies students for college, building projects in both districts, and a “real sense of community” resonated and reflected his values.
“It had to be a good match for me,” he said.
At District 50, Tafoya created a Portrait of a Graduate and Portrait of an Educator, established a dual degree program with a community college and implemented AVID programs in prekindergarten through 12th grades.
District 50 also was among 23 in the nation to be recognized with a Lighthouse Award for its commitment to learner-centered, equity-focused and future-driven education.
Myers assumed the dual role for the districts for the 2019-20 school year. The decision to share the top administrator was made with the retirement of then-District 75 Superintendent Andy Henrikson.
The boards are sticking with the shared superintendent model because it’s been successful, said spokesman Peter Gill. Visit Mundeleinschools.org/shared-services/.
District 120 voters in November approved borrowing $149.5 million for a variety of projects. District 75 is building a $7 million addition at Carl Sandburg Middle School.