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Edgerton starts on unfamiliar road of choosing new superintendent

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Edgerton High senior Allison Dewar offers her opinion during a focus group session with Edgerton School Superintendent Dr. Norm Fjelstad.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Edgerton School Superintendent Dr. Norm Fjelstad leads a group of high school students in a focus group at the district office.

EDGERTON — Even after two decades as superintendent, Norm Fjelstad has never stopped being a teacher.

So as the Edgerton School District starts its search for his replacement, he decided to use the search as a teaching opportunity Wednesday.

He gathered a group of high school class officers and student council members for a focus group, discussing what the district has done well and not so well and what the school board should look for in its next superintendent.

"You're thinking along the same lines, here," he said as he scrawled their answers on a whiteboard in sloppy, sprawling handwriting. "That's good. It makes it easier to reach consensus."

Fjelstad wants to make sure everyone gets input on the search for his replacement, who will start when Fjelstad retires at the end of the 2009-10 school year.

After all, Edgerton doesn't have much experience with this. It's had only three superintendents in the last 75 years, and Fjelstad has led the district for the last 21 years.

No current school board member was there for Fjelstad's hiring, and people who were in kindergarten when he started now have children of their own.

Fjelstad's longevity is a rarity in an age when many leaders last just a few years. He estimated only two or three superintendents in the state have held their positions 20 years or more.

"Superintendents are not as easy to find anymore," he said while discussing his retirement. "It's a very volatile position, almost like a lightning-rod position."

The district will have plenty of time to find its ideal candidate. Fjelstad announced his retirement nearly two years before it will take place.

In December, the board hired BWP & Associates, Libertyville, Ill., to aid the search. The board hopes to announce its choice by January 2010, President Brian Donnelly said.

"We're going to have some community group and staff meetings to get a lot of input from a lot of different folks as to what they think is important to have in your next superintendent," Donnelly said. "We're going to spend probably the next six months doing that."

Fjelstad already has gotten a start. He surveyed every district staff member and included it in a strategic planning/transition report for the board.

But once the search firm enters the picture, Fjelstad plans to back off, he said.

"I really need to stay out of this because I want the board to do this independently," he said.

But no matter whom the board chooses, he or she might face a tough few years, Donnelly said. The district is dealing with dropping enrollment, budget decreases and staff cuts.

And he or she will have high standards to live up to, he said.

When asked what traits people want in a superintendent, Donnelly said:

"I suspect a lot of people are going to answer that question: 'Boy, we want to hire someone just like Norm Fjelstad.'"