School Board Announces Finalists to Replace Marty

The Menomonee Falls School Board on Monday announced the three finalists to replace Dr. Keith Marty as school district superintendent.

Marty announced in January that he would be stepping down as Falls superintendent at the end of the year. He has accepted a job at Parkway School District, a 7,500-student district in suburban St. Louis, Mo.

Over the past few weeks, the district worked together with School Exec Connect, a third-party search firm, to identify potential candidates. A total of 29 applied, and the School Board has narrowed the field to three. Here’s a little more about the three finalists:

• Dr. Charles W. Johns: Since 2004, Johns has served as principal of Rolling Meadows High School in Palatine, Ill. During his tenure at RMHS, a school of 1,951 students, Johns increased student participation in Advanced Placement courses by 60 percent. He also helped decrease the number of students receiving “D” or “F” grades by 10 percent annually. He also performed successfully under tight budget constraints each year, and returned $1.8 million in cost savings to RMHS in the 2009-10 school year. Johns earned his doctorate in 1999 from Loyola University. He also holds a masters and bachelor degree from University of Iowa
• Dr. Patricia Herdrich: Herdrich is currently the superintendent of West Bend Joint School District #1. With 7,100 enrolled students, the district is the 20th largest district in Wisconsin. West Bend ranks as the 5th lowest revenue school district out of 424 in Wisconsin. Despite low revenues, Newsweek Magazine has recognized the district as being one of the best districts in the country. Herdrich received her doctorate from University of Wisconsin in 1995. She currently serves with the national Educational Development Institute, which works with business leaders who are focused on educational research.
• Conrad Farner: Since 2007, Farner has served as superintendent of the Greenfield School District. During his tenure, he has developed a variety of programs to increase teacher development. He negotiated a teacher development program into the teachers' contract that required all new teachers to take district-developed graduate courses as part of their orientation to the district. He also supported implementation of reading intervention program for middle school special education students. Farner has completed everything but his dissertation in the doctoral program at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Read more recent news about Farner by checking out Greenfield Patch.

The final three candidates will be put through a trio of rigorous interviews Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. A team of administrators, staff and parents and the School Board will interview each candidate this week. Each candidate also will meet with board members over dinner.

“We learned a lot about what is going on in other school districts, it was a very helpful process for us,” said School Board President Kathy Shurilla “We’re very excited about our prospects. … We’ve found some great people who have some fantastic ideas about transforming the schools in ways that we are looking forward to.”

Of the 29 applicants for Marty’s position, 15 are superintendents in other districts, three are assistant superintendents, seven are principals, two are business consultants or self-employed, and two are unemployed.

Most of the applicants, 20, were from Wisconsin, with others scattered throughout the Midwest. One applicant was from New Mexico. And of the 29 who applied, 23 applicants were males.

“I wish we could have brought all the candidates back. It was very difficult to get down to the three,” said Board Member Lori Blodorn. “It was a tough process to narrow the field down.”

Last week, the School Board met in a series of closed session meetings and interviewed seven candidates. After April 15, the School Board will decide the top candidate of the final three. Once that decision is made, that person will undergo a thorough background check and will negotiate a salary with the board.

“It’s quite a final process for these three candidates,” Shurilla said.

Shurilla said the board plans to introduce the new superintendent to the public at the May 9 board meeting.

“All of the candidates were very enthusiastic about coming to Menomonee Falls,” Shurilla said. “We have a very good reputation in the state and in surrounding states. People really want to work here.”