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Let’s give new superintendents a helping hand
This time of year means a
number of educators join the
ranks of school superintendents
in Illinois. They bring new blood
and breathe new energy into our
profession. We want to make
sure to welcome them to the
superintendency and to make
sure they have a great IASA
network of support as they
begin to tackle the challenges of
being a new superintendent.
The members of the IASA
School for Advanced Leadership
(ISAL) that graduated in June
offered some interesting insights
when asked about the benefits of
going through the two-year
cohort. One common theme
expressed among the 19 ISAL
graduates was how important it
was to have developed a working
relationship with the other ISAL
members.
Steve Murphy, superintendent
at Carbondale Community District
165, summed up a prevailing
sentiment of the group when he said “In our
profession you can very much be on an island and
need networks to succeed.”
If that is true for veteran superintendents, it’s
exponentially true for new superintendents. We are
highlighting our new superintendents in this Back-to-
School issue of
Leadership Matters
.
In this issue you
will find a column by Dr. Lindsey Hall, who is
beginning her third year as superintendent at Morton
Community Unit District 709. She writes about the
challenges of being a new superintendent and offers
some suggestions on how to help a new
superintendent get their legs under them.
We had 46 attendees at the IASA New
Superintendents’ Conference in Springfield the end of
July. The two-day session was crammed with
information about school finance, technology, legal
issues, board relations, communications and even
personal health. It probably bordered on information
overload, and IASA will provide ongoing professional
support through our field services directors and our
staff.
We also are asking you to reach out to your new
colleagues in your IASA region. In this issue you will
find an alphabetical listing of the new
superintendents, including their photos, their school
district and their IASA region. Please welcome them
to your region and to our profession through a phone
call or an email. Invite them to attend one of your
IASA region meetings or even the IASA Annual
Conference with you. Let them know that you are
available to assist them with your experience,
expertise and friendship.
As Murphy succinctly said, the superintendency
can be an island. I remember what it was like sitting
in that superintendent’s chair for the first time, and
just how helpful it was when veteran superintendents
in my region went out of their
way to lend a helping hand.
I was at Thompsonville in
Southern Illinois and John Hill,
who at the time was
superintendent in Anna, called
and asked if I had ever been
to the state capitol to watch a
bill move through the process.
He said, “I’m going tomorrow
and I’d like you to come along
and I’ll show you how to sign
in, testify and lobby…I’ll even
show you where to park and
where the bathrooms are.”
There was Ed Bradley, then superintendent at
Harrisburg and the father of current House Assistant
Majority Leader John Bradley of Marion. Mr. Bradley
invited me to my first IASA conference and even
asked me to ride up with him and join his group at the
conference.
Frank Barbre of Carmi invited me to my first IASA
region meeting. At that time, I wasn’t even sure what
IASA was and I probably would not have attended
the meeting if Dr. Barbre hadn’t invited me. The
meeting provided me with an instant network.
Tom Dahncke of Nashville asked me to become
involved in IASA. I didn’t realize it until later, but at
the time he was an IASA executive officer who would
go on to become president of IASA.
What all that meant to me was that those
superintendents had an honest interest in acclimating
me to the world of being an Illinois school
superintendent. It helped me get my legs under me
as a new superintendent. It was very much
appreciated at the time and even more so as I have
taken the time to reflect upon their efforts to welcome
me to the profession.
Message from the
Executive Director
Dr. Brent Clark
“...the superintendency can
be an island. I can remember
what it was like sitting in that
superintendent’s chair for the
first time, and just how helpful
it
was
when
veteran
superintendents in my region
went out of their way to lend a
helping hand.”
