Ladue School Board Selects 3 Candidates to Interview for Superintendent's Position
Final field includes Dr. Donna Jahnke of the Ladue School District.
Clockwise from top: Donna Jahnke; Fred Czerwonka; Jon Lamberson. They are candidates for the Ladue School District superintendent.
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The Ladue School Board has narrowed the field of candidates for the position of Superintendent of the district to three:
- Dr. Fred Czerwonka, Superintendent, West Plains (MO) School District
- Dr. Donna Jahnke, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, Ladue School District
- Dr. Jonathan Lamberson, Superintendent, Riverside School District 96, Riverside, IL
Ladue Schools engaged the services of McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C., a company that specializes in finding administrators out of Omaha, NE.
Candidates will have a full round of interviews February 19-22 and the board of education anticpates making the announcement of the new hire at the regular school board meeting on February 25. The field was narrowed from 12 or 13 original candidates.
More on the Ladue School Board workshop meeting on Wednesday on Patch.
flyoverland
8:43 am on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
This is it? Let's see. When they put the current Supt. on paid leave I suggested they already knew what they would do. So, I looked up Fred and Jonathan on the internet. Jonathan just retired from a $300k job in Chicago. So, we're going to hire another guy who has already retired? Doesn't seem like a long term option. Fred comes from a rural district with very little in common with Ladue. So, given those two choices, it seems obvious who they will choose.
AnAreaResident
5:57 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Choosing a close ally of the superintendent who has been removed is not the direction I think this once-stellar district ought to take. After looking at the backgrounds of the other two, seems clear that they were chosen because they would not be selected. Hiring a no-name candidate search firm to bring in people who are already retired and just looking for a 3-year contract in another state for more retirement income would not fly in the private business world and should not be acceptable here, either.
Debby Siegel
12:10 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
As a LSD parent, I can only believe that this entire convoluted sequence of events leading to the availability of the Superintendent position is the cosmos aligning for Dr. Donna Jahnke. She is everything our district needs, period. Too many adjectives to list to explain my commitment to this lady's career path continuing here in the district where I am raising children.
flyoverland
6:54 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Let's assume you are right and she's the best thing since sliced bread. If that is what they wanted, why did they waste all the taxpayers' money with this process? It is these types of things that cause so many to distrust this board. They owe everyone an explanation and hopefully it will come off better than the one they tried to hand Elliot Davis.
CreveCoeurDad
10:05 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Let's assume she wins fair and square - there was no pre-selection. How would that scenario appear any different from the one you just described? It wouldn't. And therein lies the problem - no transparency. We you conduct everything in an opaque manner, people start to lose faith in the institution, even if nothing sinister is intended.
You are correct that they owe everyone an explanation, but don't hold your breath - we won't get one.
flyoverland
1:35 pm on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The only way it would have changed things is we would still have the money we paid the consultant who they hired and we could have had the new person on the job months sooner.
Riverside Parent
3:35 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Parents and board members, you should read some of the things going on in District 96 at www.rblandmark.com and consider this.
Sam Goodman
5:29 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Read this http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/open-letter-to-d96-board-of-education
Another Riverside Parent
5:59 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Another Riverside Parent---Sam, if you think the open letter is bad, read what Lamberson has been doing recently at District 96. It's all in the RB Landmark.