Franklin Public Schools to choose from three finalists for its superintendent position
Franklin Public Schools has selected three finalists for its superintendent position, and could have its next superintendent by the end of this week.
The finalists are Annalee Bennin, Corey Golla and Stephen Plank. One of the three finalists will replace outgoing Superintendent Judy Mueller, who announced in January in a district newsletter her plans to retire at the end of the 2021-22 school year.
Mueller has been the district's superintendent for the past five years and has been an employee in the district for 34 years in various roles, including as a teacher, associate principal, principal and director of human resources since 1988, according to an email from Franklin Public Schools' communications specialist Chad Kafka.
Bennin is superintendent for the Sheyboygan Falls School District. She previously served in the Oak Creek-Franklin School District as an assistant superintendent, director of curriculum and instruction and principal. She holds a master's degree in educational leadership from Marian University, a bachelor's degree from St. Norbert's College and is pursuing her doctorate through Cardinal Stritch University, according to a document posted on the district's website.
Golla is superintendent for the Menomonee Falls School District. Previously, he was the district's director of curriculum and learning and principal of Menomonee Falls High School. Golla holds a master's degree in educational leadership from Marian University and is pursuing a doctorate through the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the document said.
Plank is superintendent for the Burlington Area School District. He was previously a principal in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, Lakes Community High School, Mary D. Bradford High School and Durand High School. He was also the director of fine arts at Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. He holds a doctorate in administrative leadership from Loyola University and a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the document said.
The three finalists were scheduled to interview with district officials early this week, meet with stakeholders and tour the district, Kafka said.
School Exec Connect, a national search and consulting firm, handled the search process. It started the process by building a candidate profile, according to Kafka.
"To accomplish this, they conducted a superintendent survey to collect as much feedback as possible from parents, staff, community, and local business leaders. They also held focus groups (teachers, leadership, parents/community, local businesses) to get feedback about what to look for in the next supt (superintendent). In addition, they also held open forums for the same groups where people could come and speak about what to look for in the next supt.(superintendent)," said Kafka in a separate email.
School Exec Connect presented six semifinalist candidates to the Franklin School Board to interview. The board narrowed the field to the three finalists and hopes to make its final selection later this week.
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Three finalists are being considered for Franklin superintendent
