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Three superintendent search firms present customized plans to Oak Park ESD 97 board
Summary
Three finalist search firms — BWP & Associates, HYA, and the Illinois Association of School Boards — each presented their approach to recruiting and onboarding a new Oak Park ESD 97 superintendent, stressing community engagement, candidate vetting and post-hire support.
Three firms seeking the contract to lead Oak Park Elementary School District 97’s superintendent search presented their proposals and answered board questions during the board’s public meeting.
The presentations were led by representatives from BWP & Associates, HYA (a search firm that partners with Howard University and other networks), and the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB). Each firm described a multi-step search process that includes community engagement, candidate vetting and post-hire mentoring.
BWP & Associates’ Johnny Thomas, introduced himself as “an associate for BWP” and a current Illinois superintendent, and partner Steve Griesbach described the firm’s record of placing candidates who complete their first contracts and the firm’s outreach strategy to build a diverse pool. “We not only are successful in identifying candidates, but identifying candidates that have a long tenure,” Griesbach said, adding the firm’s placement completion and client-satisfaction statistics.
Representatives from HYA emphasized customization and community engagement. HYA described a process that begins with individual board interviews and broad stakeholder outreach — online surveys, focus groups and town-hall forums — and described turning that feedback into a leadership profile to steer recruitment and interviews. “All this is rolled up into the leadership profile report,” one HYA representative said, noting HYA’s capacity to run multilingual surveys and to host both in-person and online forums.
The Illinois Association of School Boards’ delegation, led by Dr. Carmen Ayala and Al Mulvey, positioned IASB as a statewide, association-led alternative to private search firms. Ayala, a former state superintendent, said IASB focuses on equity and on staying accountable to local school boards. “I would be honored to serve a school district like Oak Park District 97 because it’s an equity-focused district,” Ayala said.
Differences among the firms focused on emphases and additional services. BWP highlighted national recruiting networks and candidate longevity; HYA stressed custom engagement tools, a searchable candidate profile system and a transition/mentoring academy for the hired superintendent; and IASB emphasized state-level reach, local governance orientation and a lower, all-inclusive fee proposal tied to its nonprofit status.
Board members asked about timeline options, the ability to expedite searches and how each firm ensures diverse candidate pools. BWP and HYA both said expedited searches are possible but not recommended unless necessary. HYA noted new tools, including behavioral assessments for finalists and expanded consultant networks, to increase candidate diversity. IASB described use of state and national networks and a low-cost membership discount for districts that are IASB members.
Next steps: firms said the board would be debriefed within days and could choose a firm for approval at a future meeting. Board members said they expected to meet again shortly to decide whether to hire a firm and to finalize a timeline for the search.
