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The DeKalb School District 428 board will vote Tuesday to select a new superintendent, according to the agenda released by the district.
Four finalists participated last month in a series of community forums. The four finalists are Minerva Garcia-Sanchez, Johnetta Miller, Lorenzo Russell and Marcey Sorensen.
Garcia-Sanchez is a bilingual urban school district leader who brings multicultural awareness and equity to her leadership, according to the letter sent by the district. She has held multiple principal positions and was recruited to be deputy chief of the Gage Park Community Network before receiving a promotion to the Pilsen/Little Village chief of schools in July 2015. Garcia-Sanchez is completing her doctorate in urban education policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has a master’s degree in instructional leadership from Chicago State.
Miller currently is the superintendent of West Harvey-Dixmoor School District 147 and has master’s degrees in teaching from Chicago State and educational leadership from Roosevelt University. She is completing her doctorate at Concordia. Throughout her career, Miller has served in roles as principal, human resources director and curriculum director. According to the letter, she led the transformation in District 147 to improve equity among students.
Russell is the area superintendent for a high school network in Cleveland. He was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago and is a Chicago Public Schools graduate. He has advanced degrees in educational leadership from Northeastern Illinois, UIC and Northern Illinois University. He also has been deputy chief of schools for CPS.
Sorensen is the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning for Fort Worth (Texas) Independent School District. She also has held leadership roles at CPS and in Madison, Wisconsin. Sorensen has a bachelor’s degree from NIU, a master’s from Northeastern Illinois and a doctorate from UIC in urban educational leadership and policy studies.
Griff Powell and Ray Lechner currently are serving as interim co-superintendents. They took over for Jamie Craven, who announced his resignation in April to head to the Peru elementary district.