The new Regional Superintendent of Schools for Clinton, Jefferson, Marion, and Washington Counties says all the requirements have now been met for him to take over on July 1st. Matt Renaud will replace retiring Regional Superintendent of Schools Ron Daniels. Renaud has announced that former Iuka Grade School Superintendent John Consolino will take his position as Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools.
Renaud has been an educator for 25 years, including as a teacher, Sandoval Grade School Principal, and as Superintendant at Bethel, Iuka, and Raccoon before becoming Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools.
Renaud says he looks forward to being a resource for the school districts in the four-county region. He reports the teacher shortage is at the top of the list.
“Just last year we had a shortage of at least 60-plus people in our school districts that were either teaching either on a sublicense or teaching outside their certification area or on a provisional of some sort. I spent the majority of this year working to find people from outside the area to bring into our school districts or find people with a bachelor’s either within the content area or who were at least interested in education and putting them in alternative programs. We have been successful in that this year. I think that challenge will continue for the next few years until we see a larger applicant pool to satisfy the needs of our schools.”
Renaud says the need is greatest in math, at the junior-senior high level, and in special education. He also reports a shortage of superintendents is developing because of the requirement to serve as principal for two years before advancing to superintendent. Renaud says the problem is so many of the smaller districts having only a combination superintendent and principal.
Renaud also says some of the still to be announced Illinois State Board of Education school reopening guidelines could be controversial.
In this end of the state, I think people are restless and we are not seeing everybody on board with social distancing and mask mandates. I think they will be hardpressed to make everyone do that once again. That remains to be seen. We’ll see how that goes.”
Renaud says the delay in announcing the guidance is making it difficult for schools to plan for the coming year.
New Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools John Consolino.
Consolino comes to the Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools position with 22 years in education. He started as a special education teacher before becoming principal at Iuka School in 2007 and serving the last 11 years as superintendent.
During his time at Iuka, Consolino is most proud of the relationships he has built with students, families, and staff members as well as helping educators develop a culture of respect, responsibility, and kindness.
