Schools: 37 candidates apply for Sheffield’s job, interim superintendent to be named Friday, April 29

Dr. LaVonne Sheffield

Online Staff Report

The Rockford Board of Education is working off of three lists of candidates to replace outgoing Superintendent Dr. LaVonne Sheffield.

Officials said the board has names of those qualified to work as a superintendent, those vying for the interim job and those who want to become Sheffield’s permanent replacement.

Internally, Dr. Travis Woulfe, the district’s accountability officer, has completed an application for interim superintendent.

Arthur Jackson, Ernest Fuhr, Diane Roman and Richard Crandall, as of this report, were said to also be interested in the job.

Woulfe is the only person already in District 205 administration to formally request the temporary position.

Meantime, 37 people are interested in officially replacing Sheffield.

Those candidates are:

Jesse Rodriguez, Brian Ali, Robert Miller, I.V. Foster, Jr., Diana Bourisaw, Sharon, Desmoulin-Kherat, Edward Caputo, Craig Ahern, Carolyn Epps, Richard Drury, Bessie Karvelas, Donald Wood, Joan McGarry, Ronald Wynn, Thomas Gay, Yvonne Bullock, Brenda Arrington, Craig Fiegel, Celeste Bowler, Herman Strandberry, Robert Luckett, Sr., Ruth Suminen, Nathaniel Gibbs II, Thomas Graves, Robert Willis, Kristin Travis, John Nikolaros, James Drake, Jack Baldermann, Thomas Keeton, Kristine Schach, Nancy Tuckey, Ross Terry, Roberta Selleck, Diane Walters, Deborah Esparza and
Arthur Culver.

While 17 people on the above list have also applied for the interim position, Rudy Valdez, Mayor Larry Morrissey’s education liaison, did not get his application in before the Tuesday, April 26 deadline.

It was rumored Valdez was vying for the job. The school board stopped accepting applications for interim superintendent Tuesday night, April 26.

The school board is expected to name a interim superintendent tomorrow. The process the board will use to find a permanent district head is also slated to be mulled at the Friday, April 29 special meeting of the Board of Education.

As of this report, the meeting will be at 6 p.m., at the Administration Building, 201 S. Madison St.