"Suzanne's appointment was announced … and has been greeted with much enthusiasm. This was certainly an unusual search, and one that had to be completed very quickly, so we appreciate [HYA’s] willingness to accommodate us. The survey will be very valuable as we look at our strategic plan and superintendent goals."
Board President, Sue Kerr
Dr. Suzanne Johnson was selected to lead School District U46 consisting of Elgin, Bartlett, Streamwood, South Elgin, Hanover Park, Wayne and parts of five other communities. This is the second largest school district in Illinois. Dr. Johnson will work with approximately 5,000 staff members in serving the District’s 36,000 students in 53 schools.
Dr. Johnson has strong ties to the U46 community, in her career and personally, as a resident in the district. She graduated from Elgin High School and then returned to the district as a middle school teacher at the start of her career in education. Her first role in administration was at Bartlett High School, part of the U46 District. Additionally, she served as associate principal then principal at Bartlett High School. In 2013, Dr. Johnson moved to the central office, first in the role of assistant superintendent of teaching and learning and then in 2018 assumed the role of deputy superintendent. *
The U-46 Board chose to conduct an internal search and hired Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA) to facilitate the search for a new superintendent. The search was led by HYA’s Vice President, Dr. Peter Flynn, and Associates Dr. Karen Sullivan, and Dr. Kelvin Adams. The Board also decided to carry out an extensive community engagement process including one-on-one interviews with nine Board Members (two Board Members were elected during the search to replace the Board Members who did not run for re-election), a survey of 1664 stakeholders including the nine Board Members, and 16 meetings with 184 participants where HYA Associates listened to the participants’ ideas about the next superintendent.
The search took about sixty days from the Planning Meeting until the announcement of Dr. Johnson’s appointment as Superintendent of Schools. The U-46 staff assistance during the search led by Evelyn Bevins, Karla Jimenez and Brian Lindholm was outstanding. Board President, Sue Kerr, expressed her appreciation for the work of the HYA Team of Associates, “Suzanne’s appointment was announced … and has been greeted with much enthusiasm. This was certainly an unusual search, and one that had to be completed very quickly, so we appreciate [HYA’s] willingness to accommodate us. The survey will be very valuable as we look at our strategic plan and superintendent goals.”
As a result of this search and the election of the Board Members, School District U-46 now has an all-woman district Team of 8. As the HYA Associates watched this group interact with each other, they observed that “ This team is certainly going to accomplish great things for the children and the community of U-46.”
Featured Superintendent and Executive Searches
HYA and our associates assist school districts and educational organizations across the nation with superintendent and executive searches. Learn about a selection of recent searches and read what school boards have to say about working with HYA and participating in our K12 search process.
