SOUTH WAYNE - The Black Hawk school district may have found its next superintendent.
The school board Monday night voted in closed session to offer the position of middle school principal/superintendent to Charles McNulty, principal at Carl Sandburg Middle School in Freeport, Ill.
"I'm looking forward to working with the board, the educators and especially the students," McNulty said. "When I toured the district, it felt warm and welcoming, and the students were engaged."
Interim Superintendent Peter Etter said the board offered McNulty a one-year contract at a salary of $90,000 plus benefits. Etter said it's unusual for a board to offer anything less than a two-year contract, but he believed the one-year contract was the right choice.
"That was my idea," Etter said. "I feel very strongly that if a school board doesn't like you in the first six months, you should be able to get out, and likewise if you don't like the school board."
Etter said the board chose McNulty because of his significant middle school experience.
"He's been very successful as a middle school principal in Freeport," Etter said. "He can handle being a middle school principal and a superintendent."
McNulty said he is ready for the next step in his career, but he didn't want to get away from being in the school.
"I don't think I'm ready to become disconnected from the learning environment," McNulty said. "That's what was so appealing about this job is that I would have the chance to continue that while also directing other parts of the district."
Etter said McNulty, who lives in New Glarus, has until March 25 to sign the contract. McNulty said he plans to sign the contract by then. He said he is making between $87,000 and $90,000 annually in Freeport.
The other three candidates were Eric Franzen, a science teacher at Waukesha North High School; Roger Kordus, the middle school associate principal in the New Richmond school district who dropped out of consideration; and Christopher Thomalla, superintendent of the Elcho school district. Thomalla also is a finalist for the Darlington superintendent position.
Etter received 11 applications for the position, which he has held since the summer of 2007 when then Superintendent Kevin Shetler left to take a similar position with the River Ridge school district.
The school board Monday night voted in closed session to offer the position of middle school principal/superintendent to Charles McNulty, principal at Carl Sandburg Middle School in Freeport, Ill.
"I'm looking forward to working with the board, the educators and especially the students," McNulty said. "When I toured the district, it felt warm and welcoming, and the students were engaged."
Interim Superintendent Peter Etter said the board offered McNulty a one-year contract at a salary of $90,000 plus benefits. Etter said it's unusual for a board to offer anything less than a two-year contract, but he believed the one-year contract was the right choice.
"That was my idea," Etter said. "I feel very strongly that if a school board doesn't like you in the first six months, you should be able to get out, and likewise if you don't like the school board."
Etter said the board chose McNulty because of his significant middle school experience.
"He's been very successful as a middle school principal in Freeport," Etter said. "He can handle being a middle school principal and a superintendent."
McNulty said he is ready for the next step in his career, but he didn't want to get away from being in the school.
"I don't think I'm ready to become disconnected from the learning environment," McNulty said. "That's what was so appealing about this job is that I would have the chance to continue that while also directing other parts of the district."
Etter said McNulty, who lives in New Glarus, has until March 25 to sign the contract. McNulty said he plans to sign the contract by then. He said he is making between $87,000 and $90,000 annually in Freeport.
The other three candidates were Eric Franzen, a science teacher at Waukesha North High School; Roger Kordus, the middle school associate principal in the New Richmond school district who dropped out of consideration; and Christopher Thomalla, superintendent of the Elcho school district. Thomalla also is a finalist for the Darlington superintendent position.
Etter received 11 applications for the position, which he has held since the summer of 2007 when then Superintendent Kevin Shetler left to take a similar position with the River Ridge school district.