OPRF Principal Resigns, Role Will Not Be Replaced

OAK PARK, IL — The principal of Oak Park and River Forest High School has announced his resignation, effective June 30. After more than a decade in the role, Nathaniel Rouse has accepted another school program director position and plans to focus on his doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

At a March 21 board meeting, Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams shared a new organizational chart for administration that does not include the role of principal. The new structure will be put in place for the 2019-2020 school year.

Greg Johnson will be promoted from the role of assistant superintendent to associate superintendent, the board said. Some of his current duties will be reassigned, because he will be assuming many of the responsibilities traditionally held by the principal. Additionally, the titles of assistant principals are being changed to director positions, and these positions will also take on some of the principal responsibilities, the board said.

Restructuring administrative roles will allow for the creation of a new executive director of equity and student learning position, board members said. The district is focused on infusing racial equity at all levels of the school and district, and has launched a number of initiatives this year, including a racial equity policy, training in restorative justice practices and creation of racial equity coaches for teachers, board officials said. The new executive director position will further equity work while remaining cost neutral and keeping the number of administrators the same, according to the board.

Along with the new structure, Pruitt-Adams is assigning each of the strategic plan goals to a specific administrator. Previously, oversight of the goals has been more diffuse, with various implementation committees working on different pieces of the plan.

“This structure is, admittedly, somewhat unconventional,” Pruitt-Adams said in a statement. “But OPRF is not a conventional district. This is a forward-thinking structure that will allow us to transform the way we do teaching and learning in this school.”

The changes will help ease the boundaries between building and district, and move the school toward being a single, more integrated team, Pruitt-Adams said.

“We have an opportunity for transformation, and I wholeheartedly believe that this new structure will take us where we want to go,” she said in the statement. “Change is difficult, even when it’s positive change, and I ask our school community to stay open to the possibilities. I see nothing but great things ahead for Oak Park and River Forest High School, and I look forward to doing this work together.”

Recognizing that the new structure will give rise to many questions, including to whom parents and students should go for various concerns, the district is working on a developing an FAQ that will be shared widely with staff, students, parents and the community, board members said.

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