After nine years as superintendent of Elgin-based School District 46, Marvin Edwards announced Wednesday that he will step down at the end of the school year to become a university professor.
In a letter to the Board of Education, Edwards said the district “has made great strides and is at the point that allows me to move on.
“While I could rationalize reasons for staying longer, it is an opportune time for new leadership to build on what we began together to establish U-46 as a premiere school district.”
In 1993 Edwards took over the state’s second-largest school district, which had often been plagued by financial shortfalls and teacher strikes.
According to district officials, Edwards eliminated a $29 million budget deficit, maintained a balanced budget for eight consecutive years and initiated long-term agreements with district employees.
Since Edwards took over as superintendent, there have been no employee strikes, although teachers did picket district headquarters in September 2000 to draw attention to months of paycheck inaccuracies and problems arising from the district’s switch to a new payroll-processing system.
Bob Jensen, executive director of the Elgin Teachers Association, said Edwards’ announcement came as a surprise to the union.
“We’re sorry to see him go,” Jensen said. “I think he’s made some important contributions to the school district, including his relationship working with the union.”
In negotiating two of the last three teachers contracts, Edwards went along with “interest-based bargaining,” a different approach from more traditional contract negotiations, Jensen said.
Edwards’ efforts helped make for a smoother negotiation process, Jensen said.
“I think we’ve had a good working relationship that came on some difficulties we’ve had in the past,” Jensen said.
“He has certainly been helpful in guiding the district and moving forward in those areas.”
The district has 39,000 students, 10,000 more than it had in 1993. Under Edwards, the district has seen the construction of six schools, including Bartlett High School, and is building or planning eight schools, including a high school, middle school and six elementary schools.
Larry Ascough, assistant superintendent of school community relations, said student academic performance has improved as well, despite the challenge of trying to accommodate a rapidly growing student population.
“Since he has been here, all of our testing measures have increased,” Ascough said.
Board President Joyce Fountain said Edwards’ ability to resolve financial and labor-relations problems paved the way for academic improvement.
“He’s done all kinds of things for our district,” she said. “The list is long. . . . It is impossible to say this one thing supersedes all of the others. It has shown me in a new way the difference one person can make.”On Monday the board will discuss plans to find a successor. According to Fountain, the district expects the search to take four to six months.
