Cape school board sets aggressive timeline to name new superintendent

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education isn't wasting any time seeking a candidate to fill the soon-to-be-open superintendent position after Neil Glass announced his retirement Monday, Jan. 23.

Matt Welker, board president, said they hope to name a new superintendent by the end of February. The position was listed at capegirardeau.tedk12.com/hire on Wednesday, Feb. 1, and the deadline for receiving resumes is Feb. 13.

Welker said, "There's a lot of unknowns right now," but the district is in a good position. He said the school board is "young" in terms of experience in hiring a superintendent, but he believes the goals they have set are realistic.

"Obviously (those dates) could be extended if need be, but I think that the right candidate is going to be able to apply within that timeframe, and we should be able to evaluate those applicants." Welker said.

Board vice president, Missy Phegley, said they will be looking for someone with a "good amount of leadership experience and ready to take on the task of leading a district this large."

"I would echo that, and say we're looking for someone to carry on what Dr. Glass has been doing," Welker said. "The progress that the district has made, especially with community involvement and the culture of the district. All those things that I've seen improve in his tenure, the board would like to see that continue."

Glass said the next superintendent needs to be someone with experience with diversity and "a passion for kids".

"If you don't have a passion for kids and then you just treat this thing like a business, it's not gonna bode well for our district," Glass said. "We have a very diverse population, so meeting those needs is sometimes complicated and challenging but very rewarding to say the least."

Glass said he will make sure the district's current projects, such as refurbishing the new building for Cape Central Academy and a new athletic complex at the high school, are in good shape.

"I'm going to make sure that the budget's in line with those initiatives," Glass said. "I'm not going to leave a big mess for them to clean up. We have great assistants here that can help carry the load, so I feel very good about where this district is at in this community."

Glass will continue as superintendent through the end of the 2022-23 school year. But other than a family vacation in Montana, Glass says he has no concrete plans for the future. He said he would be starting a new chapter but, "I'm not sure what that looks like yet."

He said he won't be seeking another superintendent position, that he wants to push forward and find something different, something that allows him more flexibility.

"I've enjoyed my time here at Cape schools and, hopefully, I've left the school better than I found it," Glass said. "This has been a dream job. I've enjoyed the students and the staff. They've been like family. It's very hard decision for me, but I know that there's some people in the wings that can do the job and take the school district even farther I've taken it."