D158 Board of Education temporarily suspends superintendent search

HUNTLEY — At the Oct. 19 Huntley Community School District 158 (D158) Board of Education (BOE) meeting, board members heard presentations from two external search firms to create a comprehensive profile for an ideal candidate to permanently take over the role of superintendent for the district.

The two firms, HYA (Hazard, Young, Attea Associates) and IASB (Illinois Association of School Boards)—were revealed by BOE President Andy Bittman in an Oct. 16 message to D158 families and staff. Both firms have a solid track record of educational leadership recruitment, with HYA being the firm used by Arlington Heights-based Northwest High School District 214 to hire former D158 Superintendent Dr. Scott Rowe for their vacant superintendent role after a five-month search.

“One of the big reasons we want to do this is to build on our communication with the community and the community is our parents. It’s the staff. It’s the community at large to find out what is it that Huntley 158 folks want in a superintendent, and I think that that’s something that I know the whole board agrees this is the kind of information we want to have,” Bittman told attendees of the Oct. 19 meeting.

Following the presentation by both firms, BOE member Tony Quagliano commented that the board needed to decide on whether it was appropriate to spend money to find a new superintendent or continue with their current situation of maintaining Interim Superintendent Jessica Lombard, who was appointed in the role for the 2023-24 school year back in July via a unanimous vote by the BOE.

Bittman then proceeded by making a motion to move forward with hiring a search firm which all but BOE member Laura Murray voted in favor of.

The BOE decided not to select which firm they would hire at that meeting and instead voted to have further discussions on the decision at a special BOE meeting that took place on Oct. 23.

On Oct. 24, Bittman announced that the board had agreed to “change course and temporarily suspend the superintendent search,” following the Oct. 19 BOE meeting.

“Instead, the board’s next step will be to conduct a formal interview with Ms. Lombard,” stated Bittman in his update.

The decision came after receiving overwhelming staff support for Lombard via a survey conducted by HEA (Huntley Education Association) and HESPA (Huntley Education Support Personnel Association).