In his fourth year as superintendent in Oswego, Ill., Matthew Wendt has led the school district of 18,300 students in introducing a program that allows students to take classes online from home.
Another new program provides evening classes for students who prefer a later start to the school day.
Meet the new superintendent
• 1:30-3 p.m. Thursday at Walker Community Room in Fayetteville Public Library
• 4:30-6 p.m. Thursday at Happy Hollow Elementary School
Source: Staff report
"It's not a one-size that fits everyone," Wendt said. "School doesn't have to look today like it did when you and I were in school."
Wendt, superintendent of Community Unit School District 308 in Illinois, is preparing to become the next superintendent of Fayetteville School District, beginning July 1. Wendt signed a three-year contract with the Fayetteville School Board on Thursday. The Board of Education for Community Unit School District 308 still must accept Wendt's resignation and release him from a five-year contract that expires in 2019, which could take place as early as Feb. 8.
Wendt's annual salary in Illinois is $250,000 a year, compared with an annual salary of $218,000 he will receive in Fayetteville.
Fort Smith Superintendent Benny Gooden expects Wendt will be an engaged school leader and will be active at the state level. Gooden taught Wendt while he was pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership and administration from the University of Arkansas. Wendt earned his degree in 2005.
"Fayetteville has been very fortunate to find a man with his experience and energy," Gooden said.
Leading in Illinois
Community Unit School District 308, based in Oswego, Ill., reaches into five surrounding cities and sits about 45 miles southwest of Chicago. The district has 22 schools and is among the top 10 largest public school districts in Illinois, according to the district.
In the three years Judy Minor has worked under Wendt as an assistant superintendent overseeing instruction in the Illinois district, Wendt has been an innovative, thoughtful, trailblazing leader, she said.
Evening school started about three weeks ago, Minor said. About 300 students signed up to participate in a short period of time.
The district is the first in Illinois to receive an online learning waiver, Minor said. Students spend 40 percent of their school day online. They have the option of being on campus or off campus. The district continues to receive the same per-pupil funding from the state.
"He's a very visionary leader," said John Sparlin, associate superintendent in Oswego. "He's looking three and five years down the road, what the system is now and what it could be."
The district wants to offer the best programming options for students, and Wendt has been able to do that while working to operate the budget without increasing the tax rate, said Matt Bauman, the Board of Education president.
About 10 to 15 years ago, the district was among the fastest growing school districts in the country, Wendt said. The district added several hundred students a year and had to build more schools.
In 2000, the school district had 6,188 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade, Sparlin said. Enrollment doubled in six years to 12,599 in 2006. In 2012, enrollment reached 16,300 students, with the district surpassing 18,000 students last school year.
The growth has plateaued, but the payments for the buildings led to higher taxes, an issue that confronted Wendt when he became superintendent in 2012.
"That's been a stress on the citizens," he said.
Some bonds have been restructured so tax rates can begin to decrease, Wendt said.
Improvements include a review cycle for curriculum, Bauman said. The curriculum was outdated and had not been updated in 20 years. More students are taking Advanced Placement classes, and the district is covering the costs of the exams.
"He brings a progressive feel to a district," Bauman said. "In many areas, we're headed in the right direction."
But leadership sometimes leads to decisions that make some people unhappy, Bauman said.
Making some unhappy
News of Wendt's departure from the Illinois school district broke Tuesday when the Fayetteville School Board announced him as its top choice to replace Superintendent Paul Hewitt, who will retire at the end of the school year. A story posted on the Facebook page of Only Oswego, an online news website, after that decision drew more than 120 comments. More than half of them were negative, including several that said, "Good riddance."
In a large district, with 8,000 to 9,000 parents, some parents embrace changes, while others don't want to make changes, Wendt said. A few hundred parents from the Oswego area have had concerns about the direction of the district.
"Unhappy parents tend to voice their opinion more than other parents," Wendt said.
The news surprised Brad Banks, vice president of the Oswego board. He is in his first year on the board. Banks appreciates the work to allow junior high students to begin receiving high school credit and for increased opportunities for high school students to earn college credit.
"I think his mindset and his forward thinking were welcomed by a lot," Banks said. "I'm kind of disappointed to see him go this early. He had some great ideas."
Wendt had his first superintendent job when he was 30 years old. In his nearly 18 years in school district central offices, social media has changed communication more than any other tool, he said.
Wendt said he continues to learn more about how a system can improve communication with parents.
"Out of all the parents we have, I feel like the super majority understand that we've made some changes that have not always been popular but they've been needed," Wendt said. "I've never implemented anything without board approval."
One of the most difficult times of Wendt's career came when he was sued by his former school board shortly after he started working in Oswego, he said. The Ankeny, Iowa, Community School District district sued Wendt over severance payments included in Wendt's contract there, according to a news release from the Ankeny district.
The Ankeny School Board on May 30, 2012, approved an amended Wendt's contract to include a 12-month severance of about $176,500. Wendt resigned from Ankeny on June 30, 2012, and started working for Oswego on July 1, 2012, according to the settlement agreement.
The lawsuit was settled, with Ankeny agreeing to six months of severance totaling about $88,250. Both Wendt and the school district agreed they would not make any negative comments in public about each other, according to the agreement.
The Ankeny School Board voted to award Wendt severance if he were to resign, he said. Wendt said he didn't need to inform the School Board he was looking at another job. He began the search process with Oswego, interviewed, was offered the job, took it and voluntarily resigned from Ankeny.
"I didn't do anything wrong," he said. "I had a contract. The language was in the contract."
Focusing on academics
Wendt took the Oswego district from a deficit budget to a positive ending balance, improved academic opportunities for students and had a sincere, laser-focused drive to make sure all students who graduated were ready for college and careers, said Bill Walsh, who was the board president when Wendt was hired. Walsh was on the board from 2011 to 2015.
Wendt was methodical and transparent during the review he and his staff did of the district, Walsh said. Efforts to close the gap included not filling vacancies and consolidating positions.
An effort to close a $7.5 million deficit in a $200 million operating budget in his first year in Oswego led Wendt and his staff to end outdated programs and focus on developing a system approach to education.
"The idea was that a third grader's experience in one elementary school should not be less than a third-grader's experience in another elementary school in the district," Wendt said.
In Oswego, Wendt sought to stop outdated programs, which meant the district stopped purchasing materials and licenses to support them, he said. He wanted every program and staff position to align with a goal to raise academic achievement.
Wendt lobbied state officials to allow eighth-graders to earn credit for high school for taking advanced math and science classes, Walsh said. Wendt was working toward a goal of every student finishing high school with a two-year college degree.
Walsh understands Wendt's desire to live closer to family members of both he and his wife, but said it's unfortunate for Oswego that he is leaving, Walsh said.
"The status quo is not good enough," Walsh said. "He always wants to be improving."
NW News on 02/01/2016