Gordon to become next superintendent of St. Charles School District

Former Glen Ellyn School District 41 superintendent Paul Gordon will be returning to Illinois to become the new superintendent of St. Charles School District 303.

St. Charles School Board members on Monday unanimously approved a three-year contract with Gordon, which will run through June 30, 2025. He will earn $260,000 in the first year of the contract.

Gordon, who will start July 1, has served as the superintendent of the Wenatchee School District in Wenatchee, Washington, since 2019. Prior to that, he served as superintendent for Glen Ellyn School District 41 for six years.

He will succeed Superintendent Jason Pearson, who will be leaving the district to become the superintendent of Northbrook School District 28 beginning July 1. Pearson has served as District 303 superintendent since 2017 after joining the administrative team in 2010 as an assistant superintendent and then becoming deputy superintendent in 2016. Pearson’s contract was renewed in 2019.

St. Charles School Board President Jillian Barker said Gordon is an experienced leader and a visionary educator.

“He taught kids how to read who were struggling readers,” Barker said after the meeting. “He is just excited about doing the job.”

Gordon was recognized with a Those Who Excel Award from the Illinois State Board of Education and as the Educator of the Year by the village of Glen Ellyn in 2019.

As part of a process to determine what the community wanted to see in a new superintendent, a search firm met with focus groups, collected community survey responses and analyzed them. The firm talked to more than 100 stakeholders in 42 interviews, focus groups and forums.

In addition, 851 people responded to a community survey, including 463 parents and 268 teachers and certified staff members. The information gathered was used to create a profile of the desired traits and characteristics of the new superintendent and aid in the search and selection process.

“If you look at that profile, he really embodied that profile,” Barker said.

As part of his educational experience, Gordon served Adams 12 Five Star Schools in Thornton, Colorado, as an English teacher, assistant principal, principal, executive director of schools and chief academic officer.

“I am incredibly proud and honored to join District 303,” Gordon said in a news release. “While doing research for my interviews, what excited me the most about this opportunity was the drive and commitment to continuous improvement by the staff and community to accelerate an already good school district. One of my core values is collaboration; I believe that together (staff, students, families and community), we can accomplish excellent outcomes for each student. Through collaboration, community partnership and communication, we will create a thriving school environment for each student.”

In January 2019, the District 41 School Board voted 4 to 3 not to renew Gordon’s contract, a decision that was met with displeasure by many parents and faculty members. The decision became one of the central issues in the District 41 School Board election that year.