Schools

St. Charles School District Superintendent Plans to Retire

Board of Education members say they probably won't hire outside firm to conduct search for his replacement.

St. Charles School District Superintendent Randy Charles announced his intentions to retire at the end of the 2011-12 school year via a letter to the Board of Education read aloud during the March 10 board meeting. 

Charles, 52, has been with the district for nearly four years and has been an educator for 32 years. He said once educators have worked in Missouri for 34 or 35 years, they start to think about retirement because they can earn more money when they retire than they would if they kept working.

Charles said in the letter he's enjoyed his time in St. Charles. "We have accomplished a great deal and are implementing plans for continued improvement," he wrote.

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Charles said he doesn't have any immediate plans to leave the St. Louis area after he retires. His wife, Lisa Charles, is Assistant Superintendent of the Hancock Place School District in South St. Louis County and he said he wants to be supportive of her.

Charles said he's not sure if he would take another superintendent position in another state, as that would likely mean relocating.

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"I don't have any plans or or any intentions at this point," he said. 

Board member Donna Towers said she's happy Charles announced his decision early.

"We can take our time and find a candidate," she said.

Towers said the board will likely search for a candidate itself and not employ an outside firm, like the Missouri School Boards Association, to help. Search firms often charge between $10,000 and $20,000 to conduct a national or regional superintendent search.

The Francis Howell School Board agreed to pay MSBA $18,500 to conduct a superintendent search in 2009 and ended up hiring Pam Sloan, who was, at the time, an assistant superintendent within the district.

The St. Charles School Board used MSBA in the last search for a superintendent, and ended up hiring Charles, who came from the Hillsboro School District.

"I think, this time, Randy is going to help us do it," said Towers. "He's going to help facilitate the process. ... We want the very best candidates we're able to get. Word will get out."

Charles said search firms do provide an objective facilitator who can help manage the process, however, he said they can be expensive. Charles said he's able to assist the board in the search, but he will not be involved in the decision-making process.

"We need to talk about the process, I need to know what they have in mind," he said. "It's really, really early." 

Charles started as superintendent of the district in July 2007, when the district was in the midst of a major reorganization. Declining enrollment had prompted the board to close two elementary schools and reconfigure the middle schools as 5th grade students were moved out of elementary schools.

Almost four years later, elementary school enrollment has turned around and Charles is leading the district through another transformation as it prepares to reopen one of the closed elementary schools for the start of the 2011-12 school year.

Some community members questioned Charles’ recommendation to complete $1.3 million in repairs to Benton Elementary School before it was transformed into a new center for administration.

After that, Charles sought community input on most major decisions involving the future of the district, convening committees to talk about enrollment at the high schools, cutting items from the budget and redrawing elementary enrollment boundaries.

Charles Brazeale, director of instructional technology, is in his first year working with the district, but said Charles will be hard to replace. 

"He's a collaborative leader," said Brazeale. "It's great to work with him." 


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