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Wheeling CCSD 21 launches expedited strategic planning process; superintendent announces staffing news and canopy delay
Summary
Superintendent outlined a three-year strategic planning process to replace the district’s 2020 plan, announced Bob Gurney’s new superintendent appointment in another district, and updated the board on delays installing a canopy at Kilmer modular classrooms.
Wheeling CCSD 21 staff told the board on Jan. 16 that the district will begin an expedited strategic planning process to produce a new three-year plan for 2025–2028.
The superintendent said the board’s current strategic plan, adopted in January 2020, will reach the end of its planned life this spring and that the district will start a successor process in late February. Dr. Joe Porto, a retired superintendent invited to facilitate the work, will lead four three-hour evening sessions beginning Feb. 24. The process will include about 45 participants representing the board, staff, parents and administration, and the district will deploy parent and staff surveys as part of information-gathering. The superintendent said a draft plan should be ready for board consideration at the April meeting.
On staffing news, the superintendent offered congratulations to Bob Gurney, who was identified as the next superintendent of Mokena Elementary School District 159. The superintendent described Gurney’s 20-plus years in District 21 service, including roles as teacher, instructional coach, dean, assistant principal, and principal at the district’s two middle schools, and six years as assistant superintendent for human resources.
The superintendent also briefed the board on delays installing a weather canopy to connect the main building to modular classrooms at Kilmer. Staff reported the primary hold-ups were installing posts into asphalt to secure the canopy and a backlog in manufacturing the canopy’s canvas. The district said staff are pressing the vendor for a status update and expect an update on the following Monday.
Quotes from the meeting capture the tone of staff’s remarks: “We are pressing as hard as we can,” the superintendent said when asked about the delay and vendor follow-up.
Ending: The district will begin stakeholder outreach and meetings for the strategic plan in February, and staff will return to the board with updates on the canopy installation and on any staffing transition matters related to Bob Gurney’s departure.
