It was a rocky board meeting for Proviso Township High School District 209, when the board of education came under fire after narrowing down its search for district superintendent to three candidates.
The three finalists are Rena Whitten, Darius Adamson, and Krish Mohip, selected through Hazard Young Attea Associates, the firm that was hired by D209 in 2023 to conduct the superintendent search.
According to Adamson’s LinkedIn, he is the superintendent of the Broward County Public School District in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has also served as an executive area director for the Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, chief executive officer at University Preparatory Academies and regional superintendent at DeKalb County School District in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mohip, who has experience in Chicago Public Schools, has served as chief officer and chief of schools, as well as deputy chief of schools for CPS. According to his LinkedIn, he is the chief education officer at the Illinois State Board of Education.
Whitten, the only female candidate, serves as the assistant superintendent of student services and equity at Thornton Fractional High School District 215 in Lansing, Ill., according to her LinkedIn profile. It shows that she has been with that district since 2011.
During the board of education meeting April 8, community members expressed their concern and disapproval over the candidates.
Tara Stamps was the first to address the board and expressing her concern about the search. Stamps, county board commissioner 1st District, said she recently attended a student roundtable discussion and was concerned the student’s voice wasn’t being heard.
“Our young people and this district need representation because representation matters,” Stamps said. “I ask that you all really do concern what you are putting forth tonight and make sure that the voices of young people are amplified in the spaces.”
Mayor Nathaniel George Booker of the Village of Maywood also spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, accompanied by Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey and Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson.
Booker spoke on their behalf, and said D209 needs a superintendent who represents the population of Proviso, and needs unity and healing across the board of education members, as well as a plan for low-performing students coming in from feeder schools.
“The district needs someone who will deal with compassion for our students, families, teachers, and staff,” Booker said. “Because everybody across the board needs healing.”
“There is a disconnect between the board, the administration and the buildings they operate in. That needs to change,” Booker added.
The community meetings were disheartening, Booker said, adding that not all candidates were treated equally during the interview process.
Arbdella Patterson spoke during the public portion of the meeting Monday night, along with board member Sandra Hixson.
According to Patterson, out of the three finalists, two received a warm welcome and one did not. “He made it very clear ‘I did not feel welcome when I walked into PMSA,’” Patterson said.
Patterson called for the whole search process to be done all over again.
“It was not done fairly,” Patterson said, adding that some people were asked a different number of questions than others. “We need to do this search over. We paid these people $30,000 and look at what we got.”
At least one community member called for the board to be on the same page as the community, students, and faculty from D209 who came out to share their opinions during the search.
“The board needs to engage in a win-win process to collectively determine what we are looking for in a superintendent and rank those characteristics, which should lead to a consensus with the board which will inter led to a consensus with the community,” she said.
“If you are fighting each other, what example are you setting?” she asked.
Jarrell David, a sophomore at Proviso Math and Science Academy, leads the Superintendent Student Roundtable.
At the meeting, a passionate David said the previous board brought on former Supt. James L. Henderson with a 7-0 vote, which included four current board members.
“There are four incumbent board members that voted that 7-0 way that ‘messed our district up,’” David said. “But this would be the second time that Mr. Valtierrez and Board President Grant would have voted for the wrong candidate again.”
“It is too many times that we have people who put their political interest above the students’ interest, you asked us to come together as one team and that is what we did. We gave you the feedback,” he said.
“If you want to start the healing process it begins and ends with all of us,” Hixson said. “Let’s stand in unison, applaud the students and the community for expressing their concerns.”
A superintendent is expected to be named during the upcoming April 23 meeting.
Board president Grant said no decision has been made yet.
“The only comment I can offer is that we are really pleased with the search that HYA did and we will announce when we have approved a contract,” Grant said.
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly identified a public commentator during the meeting. The speaker was Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps. We apologize for the error.
