Hampshire principal returns to Dist. 300 operations position
Community Unit District 300 has tapped Hampshire High School Principal Chuck Bumbales to see it through a series of upcoming projects.
Bumbales in July will return to the position of assistant superintendent of operations, which he held from 2004 to 2008. But many of his operations duties will begin right away, according to a news release from the district. District 300 Superintendent Michael Bregy said Bumbales will be a good fit for the short- and long-term facility planning on the horizon.
“He knows our community. He knows our schools. He knows our systems. We wish we did not have to ask him to leave Hampshire but he is quite literally the perfect person for this difficult job,” Bregy said in the news release.
The district is looking into boundary changes for some of its schools as early as the 2014-2015 school year. Administrators have not decided which schools should see the changes but said the reorganization will help make the best use of classroom space. Some schools in the Carpentersville-based district are underutilized while others are too crowded.
The boundary shifts also could be implemented with changes to grade levels in specific buildings. Besides preparing the district for these changes, Bumbales will work on a 10-year preventive maintenance plan and rewrite a capital improvement plan while helping hire close to 30 new teachers at the elementary level for the 2013-2014 academic year. The new teachers are necessary because of the district’s latest contract with its union educators in LEAD 300.
“It’s great to have those lower class sizes, now exactly how we make that happen is what we have to figure out,” Bumbales said, adding that the challenge will be finding space for all those new teachers to be in classrooms.
According to the district’s news release, Bumbales’ salary will not change when he officially takes over the new position. His July 1 start date will coincide with the retirement of Tom Hay, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning instructional services. Hay’s position will not be refilled.
Bumbales graduated from what was then Carpentersville’s Irving Crown High School in 1979 and started his career as an English teacher at Jacobs High School in 1985. He oversaw construction of Hampshire High School in his first tenure as operations chief, and began as its principal in 2007.
District officials plan to hire Bumbales’ replacement before the end of this academic year. Applications will be accepted starting this week.