SD 135 supt. search not an inside job?

• Reprints

Dennis Soustek, pictured here in March 2010, spent four years as superintendent of Orland School District 135. The school board Monday hired Soustek as interim superintendent to help fill the position. | File photo

Updated: February 12, 2012 8:05AM

After finding its two prior superintendents in-house, Orland School District 135 is searching for a new one for the second time in two years — and likely will look outside the district.

So far, nobody within the district has expressed an interest in the job, according to Dennis Soustek, who spent four years as superintendent and has been brought back to help find a new one.

The Tinley Park resident is taking over for Paul Howell, who asked to move back to his previous job as the district’s director of curriculum. Howell’s reassignment — and Soustek’s hiring as interim superintendent through the end of the school year — were approved by the District 135 school board Monday night.

Soustek said Tuesday there’s much to do and a relatively tight time frame to get it all done.

Talking to school board and community members about what they want in a superintendent is a starting point, then the district needs to advertise for the position, he said. Soustek said he plans to get input from the Illinois Association of School Boards, which offers assistance to school districts searching for superintendents.

Although Tuesday was his first day back on the job, Soustek said he hasn’t been approached by anyone in the district interested in applying for superintendent. He also said he didn’t believe any District 135 administrators had the required state certification to hold the position.

After Soustek retired as District 135’s superintendent in June 2010, he was replaced by Howell, who declined to comment Tuesday on why he asked for reassignment to his former job. The district’s curriculum director, Laura Berry, intends to retire at the end of the school year.

In an email, Howell said his desire is to “continue to focus on key educational areas” and that working as curriculum director allows him to “work more collaboratively” with principals and assistant principals.

Soustek served as District 135 superintendent from 2006 to 2010, replacing Linda Anast-May, who left after three years. He previously served as principal of the district’s Jerling Junior High School.

Along with approving Howell’s reassignment and Soustek’s hiring, the District 135 board on Monday night approved a four-year contract with teachers that ties pay raises to fluctuations in inflation.

The new contract, which the teachers union ratified last week, doesn’t provide for set salary increases but uses a formula that incorporates the Consumer Price Index from the previous year to determine raises for the following year. There’s no increase in base salaries for the current school year, with step increases only, according to the district.

The union had sought regular pay hikes, with a 1.5 percent increase in the first year and rising to 2.5 percent in the fourth year, according to Deneen Pajeau, of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and a member of the union’s negotiating team.