Checking on Linn-Mar’s pick

First, let's get one thing straight. Quintin Shepherd has no plans to cancel Halloween.

'I would say never,” said Shepherd, who will take over as Linn-Mar's superintendent on July 1. His hiring was announced last week.

That announcement sent some of us to Google seeking information on Shepherd, who is superintendent at District 69, a suburban Chicago district based in Skokie.

One series of news stories chronicled his decision in 2012 to cancel Halloween parties, citing discomfort among some families for cultural, religious or financial reasons. That didn't sit well with other parents who criticized a unilateral decision that wasn't well communicated.

'What we should have done better is we should have been more thorough earlier on in the year with (communicating) the decision,” he said.

The ban remains in Skokie, but Shepherd insists it's not coming to Linn-Mar.

It was another communications issue, however, that prompted a few folks in the Linn-Mar community to email me with concerns.

Shepherd and the District 69 School Board took heat this fall for a policy that appears to require parents, staff and others who have questions or concerns for school board members to first submit them to the superintendent. The superintendent would then provide a 'summary.” The policy's troubling language seems to make the superintendent a gatekeeper between the public and the board.

The policy predates Shepherd's tenure at District 69, and he said district leaders are changing it. 'It was never anyone's intention that people are disallowed to talk with board members. That's not at all how schools work. '

Regardless, he has no plans to duplicate the policy at Linn-Mar. 'No, I'm not bringing this with me,” he said. Shepherd plans to spend his first several months in Marion learning about the community and school, and asking lots of questions.

'I certainly don't come with an agenda, I guess is what I'm trying to say,” he said.

You can't blame folks for being worried about communication and transparency. After all, Shepherd was hired at the end of a process that was largely conducted behind closed doors. After a series of focus groups on what staff, students and others wanted in a new superintendent, the public was shut out.

Even the names of finalists for the job were kept confidential, due to concerns that applicants wouldn't want their current employers to know about their job-seeking. But what's more important, the worries of applicants or the ability of people who work, learn and pay for a community school to know who will be leading it? I don't think it's even close. Other districts, Iowa City is one example, allow the public to question finalists. Instead, at Linn-Mar, nobody knew what questions to ask until it was too late to ask them.

Shepherd, a smart, engaging guy and good diplomat, said he understands why Linn-Mar kept the process closed. But his hiring is also a good argument for why it didn't need to be closed.

'The district was so attractive to me, Linn-Mar was so attractive to me, that I would have submitted my name if it was an open process,” he said.

' Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com