Woodland school community urged to complete survey for superintendent search
Woodland Elementary School District 50 leaders are urging community members to answer an online survey that they say will help in the search for the district's next superintendent.
The survey asks community members whether it is important that a candidate has past experience as a principal or superintendent and if the candidate agrees to live in the district once selected.
The survey is being conducted by the Illinois Association of School Boards, a group the school board hired to run the superintendent search.
Current Superintendent Lori Casey intends to retire when her most recent employment contract ends after the 2021-22 school year. It will be Casey's 23rd year in the district. Before being named the district's top administrator, Casey served 10 years as the district's associate superintendent of education.
She earned $198,000 annually in her two years as superintendent and will receive an additional $100,000 after her two years in that role are completed.
Casey started in the district as a special education supervisor at the middle school before being named an assistant principal at Elementary East and then principal at Woodland Primary School. Casey has earned several major awards during her career, including the Special Education District of Lake County's Outstanding Educator of the Year award and the Walmart Teacher of the Year.
Casey took over for longtime superintendent Joy Swoboda, who served in the role for 14 years, in the spring of 2020. Swoboda and Casey worked together in the district for 20 years.
A link to the online survey can be found at the district's website at dist50.net.