Glenbrook High School District #225 appointed interim principals Marina Scott and Stephan Bild and principal liaison Ryan Bretag for the 2023-2024 school year following the resignation of former principal Jason Markey.
The interim principals oversee the curriculum, teachers and students while the district searches for a permanent principal.
Interim principals do everyday things that a principal would do, but having a co-interim principal requires more communication, Scott said.
Scott is in the building on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and Bild is in the building on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
Bretag provides continuity between the two interim principals by being at school every day, he said.
“I’m a consistent presence, so I check in with them,” said Bretag. “We’re working together every morning to make sure [there is] continuity.”
According to Scott, she and Bild have different responsibilities they take care of within the building.
“[Bild] works with Student Services, Special Education, the deans,” said Scott. “I work with the academic departments [and] with community outreach things.”
Bretag, Scott and Bild plan to stay in their positions until the end of the school year.
In order to keep their pension until the end of the school year, Scott and Bild looked at the calendar to calculate their schedule for the year, being careful they do not work more than 120 days, Bild said.
According to superintendent Charles Johns, the district plans to begin the process of hiring a new principal this fall.
“[Usually it’s around] November [or] December in which principal hiring takes place,” said Johns. “So we’re going to try to be on the front end of that annual cycle so that we can have a collaborative process to find the right new next principal for the school, and … while [the candidate] won’t start until July 2024, [they] may still be involved in some of the hiring decisions or key decisions that are made at the end of the school year.”
To find the right new hire, Johns and the Human Resources department will put together a schedule for reaching out to the staff, teachers, students and parents to collect insight on what attributes of a candidate are needed in order to be a successful principal, Johns said.
“We have a series of surveys that will take place,” said Johns. “We’ll then take some of the survey results to a smaller group who will give us feedback on what we have and make meaning from those surveys. And then that information will be used for a series of interviews with interview committees that will be a part of the hiring process.”
According to Bretag, his goal with Scott and Bild is to create a cohesive experience for students.
Bretag, Scott and Bild do not want seniors thinking their last year had random new people and that things felt awkward, Bretag said.
“And so there’s a lot of times you’ll see on Mondays, the three of us sitting [in the office], it feels like one, one brain, one heart working together,” Bretag said.