With interviews set to start next month for applicants seeking to become the next New Trier High School superintendent, an executive search firm has presented information on stakeholders’ priorities for the next administrative leader.
At their Sept. 16 meeting, District 203 school board members formally received a leadership profile report from Hazard, Young and Attea, the search firm retained to facilitate the hiring process to replace Superintendent Paul Sally, who has announced his retirement at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
HYA representatives said almost 1,000 people completed a survey connected to the search, plus they conducted 21 focus groups, five open forums and nine individual interviews.
“We have thoroughly enjoyed all the meetings we have had and it has really given us an opportunity to get to know the community’s both internal and external stakeholders,” HYA Senior Associate Constance Collins told the school board.
The HYA report listed “five big takeaways” based on the community outreach starting with “the new superintendent should be dedicated to sustaining and strengthening the school’s traditional excellence in academics, athletics and the arts,” per the feedback.
The next point was the new leader should value the school’s traditions while encouraging development of new opportunities to ensure student success.
Other takeaways were, “the superintendent should listen to and learn from all stakeholders.” Next, “collaboration, communication and distributed leadership are essential to the school’s growth.” Additionally, the personality of the new superintendent was deemed to be an important characteristic.
“Someone who really enjoys the job and is not just here to be here,” Collins said. “People can sense you enjoy doing what you are doing.”
The HYA team described what the community views as priorities, both immediate and somewhat long term.
The top five main concerns for right now include building strong relationships and listening; a focus on mental health, safety and well-being; an alignment with the school’s strategic plan and educational excellence; cultivating a climate of belonging for all members, and being visible with strong communication.
“When you are a high school superintendent, you can’t just sit in the office. You have to be visible, you have to be out in the community as well as the school,” HYA Senior Associate Brian Harris noted.
A top priority for the next two to three years is retaining and recruiting excellent staff members, according to the survey results. This concern comes as the high school is anticipating 90 faculty retirements (out of a total of approximately 400 faculty members) over the next six years, in additional to several administrative retirements, Associate Superintendent Christopher Johnson explained after the meeting.
Broken down by group, the educational aspect was the top long-term priority cited by parents, staff, taxpayers and alumni.
For students, it was maximizing college admissions success.
The impact of property taxes was another subject for the HYA representatives.
“A lot of people said we are willing to pay for it, but we want to make sure we continue to get our bang for our buck,” Harris said.
Based on the public outreach, HYA identified the school’s top strengths as solid academic standards, strong community involvement, and being well-resourced and financially stable with a dedicated and highly qualified staff.
District 203 Board President Jean Hahn praised the stakeholder participation in the superintendent search component.
“We often refer to our engaged community as one of New Trier’s greatest assets. The robust and conscientious responses to the survey bear that out,” she said. “Not only will these contributions guide the board’s decision, it is a signal to potential candidates how really exceptional New Trier is and the extraordinary privilege it would be to serve as its next leader.”
With the report submitted to the school board, the superintendent search now moves into a new phase. A note on the HYA website states applications will be accepted through Sept. 30.
Candidates are set to be interviewed Oct. 16 and 17, followed up by interviews of finalists sometime between Oct. 28 and Nov. 1 and the new superintendent will be named at the November school board meeting.
The individual hired to succeed Sally will start at New Trier on July 1, 2025.