Superintendent Search Update

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    Orland School District 135 Community of Learners

    The Board is proud to announce Mr. John Bryk as our new Superintendent.

    As a fixture of Orland School District 135 for the last four and a half years, Mr. Bryk is already known to many in our community, but it is important to point out that he was the most qualified candidate in several of the Board’s search criteria: Mr. Bryk inspires trust, has high levels of self-confidence and optimism, and models high standards of integrity and personal performance.

    Mr. Bryk is currently our Interim Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations. Besides Mr. Bryk’s invaluable experience at District 135, he has additional administrative experience from when he served as Chief School Business Official at Minooka Community HS District 111, and as an Assistant Principal at Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City. Prior to his administrative career, Mr. Bryk was also a teacher at T. F. North High School in the Business and Technology Department.

    His dedication to our community goes beyond education. For more than 35 years, Mr. Bryk has served our country in the National Guard. He is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the Illinois Air National Guard, where he serves as Commander of Security Forces Squadron at Scott Air Force Base. Mr. Bryk’s commanding officer sent the Board a recommendation letter stating he is at the top 1% of his organization.

    After numerous stakeholder-specific focus groups and open community sessions, along with input from community leaders, staff, parents and students, the Board created the selection criteria to guide the search firm in its screening process. The national executive leadership search firm, Ray and Associates, Inc. conducted our search based on our custom criteria. Fifty-five candidates submitted their application, and at the conclusion of the screening process, Ray and Associates recommended eight candidates to advance in the hiring process.

    The search firm conducted preliminary interviews and reference checks of each of the candidates. The Board reviewed all applications, resumes, and letters of recommendation for each of the candidates, as well as a video interview in which each candidate answered the same three questions. As a result, the Board invited four of the candidates for an in-person interview.

    Using a consistent matrix to guide the selection process, the Board concluded that Mr. Bryk and another candidate were best suited to promote the vision of the district, and best serve the needs of our students.

    Dr. Laura Berry and Ms. Sandra Kulak represented the Board at each site visit for the two finalists. During the site visit, there were meetings with the candidate’s administration, Board and union representative, as well as a certified teacher and a member of the candidate’s support staff.

    Through this thorough process, Mr. Bryk was the clear choice for the position of Superintendent for Orland School District 135. Please join the Board in congratulating Mr. Bryk and supporting him and our District as we move forward.

     

    Sincerely,

    The Orland School District 135 Board of Education



     

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    What has been completed?

    1/13/2020: The Board announced Mr. John Bryk as the next superintendent for Orland School District 135.

    12/16/19: The Board noted that they are continuing the search process and will have an update at the January 13 meeting.

    12/9/19: Special Board Meeting: Review candidates

    12/2/19: Special Board Meeting: Conduct 2nd Interviews (12:30-4:30 PM)

    11/14/19: 1st interviews were held during a Special Board Meeting

    11/11/19: Board reviewed candidates during closed session of the regular meeting

    10/29/19: Application window closed

    9/26/19: The flyer with the candidate profile was approved.

    9/24/19: A special Board of Education meeting was held to go over the survey results, finalize the candidate profile, and review the timeline of the search.

    9/18/19: The online survey window closed at 8 AM.

    9/17/19: Ray & Associates conducted stakeholder meetings and community forums to gather additional input for developing the candidate profile.  To view the morning and evening community forum session recordings, follow the links below:

    Morning Forum
    https://zoom.us/recording/share/nS6qJ0s519B_yRdsKWAzfQr5b5cfLVqb8J2hN4_76TiwIumekTziMw

    Evening Forum
    https://zoom.us/recording/share/MVFXRVMdammC1PA6lHNfGEiHIIJQJk6UgbcveLnJpC-wIumekTziMw

     

    9/5/19: A sticker ad ran in the Orland Park Prairie to solicit the community's participation in the online survey and the upcoming community forums.

    8/28/19:  A link to the online stakeholder survey was posted on the website and shared out with staff and families via email blast.  

    8/21/19: Individual Board members met with Ray & Associates to provide input on the next superintendent, and the Board held a special meeting to discuss the timeline and scope of the search.  It was determined that they would proceed with a 60-day timeline, which would include time for a stakeholder survey and community forums to develop a candidate profile prior to posting the job opening.

    7/8/19: Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates and Ray & Associates each presented their superintendent search proposals at the Committee of the Whole meeting.  The Board discussed each of the presentations they had seen, including the IASB presentation from the June meeting, and made the decision to hire Ray & Associates to assist with the superintendent search process.

    6/10/19: Following the resignation of Dr. DJ Skogsberg, the Board of Education invited the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) to present their superintendent search proposal at the Committee of the Whole meeting.