District 65 Names Interim Superintendents For 2019-20 School Year

EVANSTON, IL — The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board Monday approved contracts with a pair of interim superintendents who will lead the district during the 2019-20 school year. Phil Ehrhardt, recently retired after 12 years as superintendent of District 25 in West Chicago, and Heidi Wennstrom, who retired from District 53 in Bourbonnais after six years as superintendent, will be co-interim superintendents while the board looks for a new permanent leader to replace former Superintendent Paul Goren, who departed last month after five years in charge of the district with a severance package worth nearly $100,000.

With more than 70 years of experience between them, the two retired administrators will each work part-time schedules to provide the district with full-time coverage and be able to still receive their pensions. State rules limit retirees to working 120 days days a year.

The co-interim superintendents "bring significant collective experience in relationship-building, collaborative decision-making, restorative practices work, and fiscal management, according to a joint statement from District 65 Board President Suni Kartha and Vice President Anya Tanyavutti, "We believe that they will make a strong team to keep our district moving forward during this coming year."

After Goren announced his resignation in June, the board contracted with search firm BWP & Associates to conduct a nationwide search for a full-time superintendent to begin work in July 2020. Debra Hill, a former District 65 interim superintendent and four-decade Evanston resident, is leading the search team and identified candidates for the interim posts.

According to biographical statements on the district's website, Ehrhardt has spent most of his career in the Indianapolis area. In his most recent role, he led efforts to improve special education, financial stability and improved relationships with the community and within the organization.

Wennstrom was an assistant superintendent in North Shore School District 112 prior to becoming a superintendent, where she focused on a holistic and child-centered approach to education. She has a demonstrated commitment to equity and managed to cut spending while improving educational outcomes across demographics, her bio said. Both have published work and presented on educational issues around the countries.

Kartha and Tanyavutti thanked Assistant Superintendent Stacy Beardsley, who served as interim superintendent between Goren's departure on July 1 until the Monday's approval of contracts with Ehrhardt and Wennstrom, for ensuring district schools were ready for the start of the new school year.

"As an organization, we remain committed to our priorities related to racial and educational equity as well as our focus this school year on the instructional core (teaching and learning in our classrooms) and restorative practices (ensuring our schools are intellectually and socially safe for learning)," their joint statement said.

Ehrhardt and Wennstrom, along with board members and administrators, will attend an ice cream social from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Aug. 29 at the JEH Education Center, 1500 McDaniel Ave. in Evanston.

Applications for the permanent superintendent position are due Oct. 6, according to a job listing. Three candidates have already begun the application process and five more have inquired about it, according to an update from BWP presented at the Aug. 19 meeting.

The consultants expect to invite residents to focus groups next week and offer a up a survey from Sept. 3 to Sept. 15 to collect community input. A report analyzing the community engagement data is expected to be presented to the board at its Sept. 23 meeting.

Earlier:

• Evanston/Skokie District 65 Superintendent Stepping Down July 1
• Resigned D-65 Superintendent Receives $100,000 Severance Package