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Search is on for new Gower District 62 superintendent
Steve Griesbach, superintendent for Gower District 62 schools, will retire June 30, 2013.
Updated: September 3, 2012 6:12AM
WILLOWBROOK — The search for the next leader of Gower School District 62 will continue this month with the creation of a profile of what qualities that person should have.
Ryan Asmus, president of the Gower School Board and a Burr Ridge resident, said a team from executive search firm BWP and Associates of Libertyville will start with one-on-one interviews of board members, followed by interviews with parents, teachers and community members. Once the search team has a clear picture of what it is looking for, it will set out in search of candidates.
Steve Griesbach, superintendent of the Burr Ridge and Willowbrook elementary district since 2005, will retire on June 30, 2013.
“I love my job,” said Griesbach, who came to District 62 as assistant superintendent in 2002. But after 34 years in education, he said he’s ready to try something new.
“I’ve been teaching since I was 21,” the 54-year-old said.
BWP specializes in school administrator placement. Asmus said all three team members assigned to the search were superintendents themselves and have a clear idea of what it takes to do the job.
The firm is expected to bring six finalists to the board for interviews on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, followed by final interviews of the two top candidates on Dec. 6 and 7, Asmus said. If all goes as planned, a new superintendent could be hired at the board’s January meeting.
While Griesbach will be available to offer input regarding his replacement, the decision is in the School Board’s hands.“It’s really their job. My work will be to help them make the best decision,” Griesbach said.
Griesbach said the board should look for a candidate with vision, who is a good listener committed to bringing out the best in every student.
“This is a place where you have your hands in lots of things,” Griesbach said. He said his successor needs to be an approachable person and “a prudent manager of human and financial resources.”
While the board searches for his replacement, Griesbach said he has a busy final year ahead.
“There is much to be accomplished this year,” he said, including the transition to the core curriculum and major building projects at both schools.
“There’s no town of Gower,” Griesbach said. Yet the school district is a community that supports the educational efforts at Gower West and Gower Middle schools.
Griesbach said whoever is chosen as his replacement is fortunate.
“This is a terrific place to work,” he said.
