Sunnybrook board hears pitches from four superintendent search firms

The Sunnybrook School District 171 board heard presentations from four superintendent search firms as it prepares to select a vendor to lead its search for a new superintendent.

Joe Porto of BWP & Associates opened the series of presentations, saying the firm would customize the process for Sunnybrook and emphasizing local knowledge of the South Suburbs. "My name is Joe Porto, and I'm here with my colleague, Johnny Thomas," Porto said, adding the firm would develop a leadership profile from stakeholder input and pursue an active recruitment strategy. BWP listed a base cost of $19,500 and estimated an additional $1,000–$1,500 for national advertising and optional vetting and travel expenses. Porto said a search begun in August could allow the board to name a superintendent by the December meeting.

Representatives from the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) outlined a lower base price with optional stakeholder work. Jim Helton, who identified himself as an IASB associate executive director, said IASB would charge $8,200 as the base fee and about $1,500 for a single in-district stakeholder day, with additional back-end stakeholder work priced separately. Helton highlighted IASB's statewide reach and a guarantee to repeat the search at no extra cost should the placement not work out.

Gloria J. Davis presented for Hazard Young & Atiyah, describing a multi-step process that includes deep community engagement, candidate vetting and a transition academy for the incoming superintendent. Davis said the firm’s base price was $16,500 and that the fee includes a transition period and a one-year guarantee to redo the search if the hire fails.

Kevin O’Mara of School Exec Connect, the final presenter, described his minority-owned firm’s national reach and its focus on recruiting women and minority candidates. He said the firm has a high placement retention rate and said quick posting and proactive outreach would help Sunnybrook reach high-quality candidates before many districts finalize hires later in the year.

Board members asked each presenter about stakeholder timing, day rates for on-site work, confidentiality for candidates and guarantees. Firms described similar five-phase approaches — stakeholder engagement and leadership-profile development, active recruitment, prescreening, interview preparation and post-hire transition support — but differed on cost, the scale of included outreach and optional add-ons such as criminal/credit background deep dives.

The board did not choose a firm at the meeting. Next procedural steps were not finalized on the record; the presentations concluded with a question-and-answer period and the firms left their written proposals with district staff.