Wednesday, March 5, 2008 9:38 PM CST
Charleston school board hires Vilardo as assistant superintendent
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Todd Vilardo will return to the school district as its assistant superintendent.
The school board voted unanimously Wednesday to hire Vilardo to the position, and he’ll begin his duties on July 1 along with incoming Superintendent Jim Littleford. Vilardo is principal of Mattoon Middle School and before that spent 15 years in the Charleston district, including time as assistant principal at Charleston High School.
Vilardo said he found the chance to return to the Charleston district “intriguing,” but his real interest was in what the assistant superintendent’s position involves: overseeing the school district’s curriculum.
“It’s an opportunity to serve the educational needs of a school community on a broader scale and to impact more and more kids,” he said.
He said his “first goal” is to successfully complete the school year at MMS, then help with the transition involving the Charleston district’s new administration. The board hired Littleford, superintendent in Altamont, in November.
Littleford participated in the process of hiring the new assistant superintendent. He attended Wednesday’s meeting and said he gave Vilardo his recommendation.
“He brings experience and a unique perspective of the district,” Littleford said. “He was the best candidate and he earned that recommendation.”
Board President Gail Mason welcomed Vilardo back to the school district and said the board has “total confidence” he and Littleford will be a “top duo in your two positions.”
In his role as curriculum director, Vilardo said he wants to bring a “unified approach” by looking at data and helping teachers understand it and how they can use it to improve learning. There’s already a “foundation laid” in the district for success and improvement, he said.
The board had to fill both administrative positions because former Superintendent Gary Niehaus and former Assistant Superintendent Darryl Taylor left the district for other jobs at the end of June. The district has been using interim superintendents for the current school year.
Also Wednesday, the board approved the district’s calendar for the 2008-2009 school year and decided how to make up for two snow days used this year.
The board approved the calendar by a 5-2 vote with member Jerry Esker and Jeff Coon opposed. The first day of student attendance will be a half-day on Aug. 14.
Unions that represent the district’s teachers and support staff voted to recommend the Aug. 14 start date over a calendar that had classes starting on Aug. 18. Esker and Coon said were opposed because the recommended calendar didn’t follow the guidelines the board gave a committee, namely that the year should start between Aug. 15 and 18.
“That was a compromise that effectively eliminated another choice,” Esker said. “We need two reasonably different calendars for people to vote on.”
Member Kevin Oakley discounted arguments that students would be in school during hotter weather, saying research he saw showed nearly the same temperatures for mid-August as in late May when school will get out. The earlier start should also help the district with state tests, he said.
“We can have more time in front of the kids before we are faced with testing,” Oakley said.
Meanwhile, there will now be attendance this school year on March 24, the day after Easter, and May 23, instead of no school as planned, to make up for the two snow days. With no more snow days this year, the final day of school will be May 23.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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Rotty wrote on Mar 5, 2008 10:07 PM:
Congrats!!
I hope you can help clean up the Charleston school district, & head us towards a brighter future.
For starters, work on the two heads at C.M.S. & C.H.S.!
Once again, Welcome home, Mr. Vilardo!!
Thank You!! "