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Hit the Ground Running
NewSuperintendents Prepare for First Year on the Job
By Jason Nevel
IASA Assistant Director of Communications
Formulating a game plan for your first year on the job as a
superintendent was much simpler 30 years ago, says Dr.
Rich Voltz, IASA associate director.
“In the old days when I was first going into the
superintendency, I had my own ideas of where I thought
the district should go, and the board members had an
idea,” Voltz said.
That’s no longer the case.
“You have to talk to your teachers, parents, students,
important community members—police chief, fire chief
and chamber of commerce—to find out what they think
the school is and what they think the school should be,”
Voltz said.
To help superintendents prepare for that first year, IASA
annually holds a New Superintendents’ Conference, a two-
day event aimed at helping superintendents transition to
their new role. This year’s conference was held in Springfield
August 1-2. Forty-six new superintendents from across
Illinois attended the event.
Creating an entry plan is one skill superintendents learned
at the conference.
“An entry plan teaches you to be focused on obtaining
information from a variety of constituents,” Voltz said. “It
keeps you from going out and saying, ‘I want to do X, Y and
Z.’ Because, in reality, what you should be saying is, ‘What
does the community want the school to be.’”
This year’s conference featured a session on Illinois’ new
evidence-based funding model, led by IASA Executive
Director Dr. Brent Clark and IASBO Executive Director
Dr. Michael Jacoby. Clark and Jacoby reviewed how the
law came to be, what it entails and what expectations
superintendents face.
Other topics included legal issues administrators could face, how
to balance work and professional life, handle a media crisis, as
well as a discussion about the importance of reviewing policies
before making decisions.
“Every superintendent should have certain handbooks readily
available,” Voltz said. “They should have the “Illinois School Code,”
their district’s own policy manual, Brian Braun’s “Illinois School
Law Survey” and their employee/student handbook. All of those
things need to be within an arm’s reach, so when they have an
issue, they can easily go back and reference these important
resources.
“A lot of people make decisions and don’t look back at the policy. If
you’re wrong, you could get fired for that.”
Four Ignite sessions—five-minute speeches intended to be
enlightening and thought-provoking—were also included this year.
The speakers were: Dr. Jill Griffin, Bethalto CUSD #8; John Price,
North Chicago SD #187; Tip Reedy, Williamsville CUSD #15; and
Dana Smith, Flossmoor SD #161.
“No surprises for the board. Communicate all the time,” Smith told
the attendees during his Ignite speech. “The last thing you want
is for a board member to learn from a community member at the
grocery store about a crisis. It will not go well.”
Mike Denault, who began his superintendency this year at
Summersville SD #79, a preK–8 district in Mount Vernon, said the
conference exposed him to a lot of the challenges he will face in
his first year on the job.
“I left Springfield confident in knowing that I had learned numerous
strategies that would lead to a successful transition to my new
position and with the assurance that I would have all of the support
of, not only the IASA, but also its distinguished membership to
lean on when the need arises,” he said.
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