Robert Halverson is the new superintendent of East Aurora School District 131, following the school board’s approval of his appointment on Monday.
He began work on Tuesday, and will co-lead the district with outgoing Superintendent Jennifer Norrell until June 30, when Norrell leaves to work as superintendent of Homewood-Flossmoor High School District 233 in the south suburbs, according to a press release from the district.
Halverson has been working as the district’s executive director of Finance and Grants for the past eight months before being chosen as superintendent, he said. Before that, he worked at West Aurora School District 129, as the assistant director of Grants and Accountability and previously as the principal of Goodwin Elementary School in North Aurora, according to the release.
He started his career as a physical education and fourth-grade teacher in the East Aurora School District. Addressing the board on Monday, Halverson credited Thomas Hartman, who attended the meeting, for hiring him to work at Bardwell Elementary School in the district in 2003.
“He took the chance on me as an educator,” Halverson said about Hartman, who he said later encouraged Halverson to become an administrator.
Halverson said his mom and grandparents attended East Aurora schools, and Halverson himself attended the district through sixth grade. His wife, Ruby Halverson, whom he met when they taught together at Bardwell, is an assistant principal in the West Aurora School District, according to West Aurora’s website. They have three sons, Monday’s release said.
“I always had goals to continue to work at East Aurora,” Halverson told The Beacon-News, saying that when he left the district, it had been “land-locked” and that he hadn’t been able to get on at the time as an administrator. “My goal to finish up my career was always to be the superintendent at East Aurora.”
The school board sought input from parents, staff and students in the search for a new superintendent, according to the release. They contracted the firm BWP Associates to do a national search for the position. Halverson said he applied in December and began interviewing in February.
Now, as superintendent, Halverson said he wants to focus on academic growth – helping students working below grade level catch up, to “move them a year-and-a-half worth of growth on an annual basis so we can help close that gap.”
He’s also interested in continuing to foster collaboration among central office administrators, principals, teachers and union leadership, as well as expanding partnerships with local nonprofits and businesses for mental health support, youth programming, career and technical education and other services.
Norrell has worked as East Aurora’s superintendent since 2018, according to the district. She will be taking the helm as superintendent of Homewood-Flossmoor High School District 233 beginning July 1, according to past reporting.
East Aurora school board member Bruce Schubert credited Norrell with spearheading a number of recent efforts in the district, including millions spent in building improvements to keep up with neighboring districts, expanding access to Advanced Placement classes and boosting the district’s reputation.
“One of the things I think East Aurora has really struggled with for a long time is its image. You have really changed that for us in so many ways – your professionalism, your knowledge, expertise, the way you conduct yourself,” Schubert said of Norrell at Monday’s meeting.
Halverson returned recently to work at East Aurora after a number of years at other districts, and is now moving up from his current administrative role to be superintendent. Norrell, who will co-lead the district with Halverson until she begins her new job, is returning to the south suburbs where she grew up. And Brian Moreno, a graduate of East Aurora in 2014, was appointed to the district’s school board at Monday’s meeting, too.
“It’s really about everybody coming home tonight,” Annette Johnson, president of the East Aurora school board, said at Monday’s meeting. “This is a full circle East Aurora moment, right?”
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
