Elkhart Community Schools Superintendent Larry Huff returned from Rockford, Illinois Wednesday to meet with reporters about why he’s leaving to become that corporation’s superintendent.
The Rockford Public School board Tuesday night voted unanimously to pick Huff as their next leader, a move that caught the Elkhart community by surprise.
Rockford will pay him $285,000 a year, compared to $218,000 in Elkhart, but Huff said money played no role in his decision.
Huff says he’s originally from Ohio but he has family near Rockford.
“It’s a little bigger job," he said. "I believe that for me professionally there’s some choices that, with family structure, that I’m going to be closer to. There’s some things that are outside of the school that I don’t feel comfortable sharing that will be impacted, like how I take care of family in the future. But also professionally I think it aligns very similar to Elkhart Community Schools. They have a very industrial economy in Winnebago County, same thing over here in Elkhart. I think the reason why it was appealing to me is it's very similar to Elkhart."
Huff said he applied at Rockford, rather than their national search recruiter contacting him. He’ll stay on the job until June 30, a day before he starts in Rockford.
He leaves in the middle of leading a process to consolidate schools because of declining enrollment that predated his two-year tenure. He said in February he’ll give the Elkhart school board a recommendation on which schools he thinks should close.
A reporter asked Huff whether he thinks he’ll leave Elkhart Community Schools in a better place than when he found it.
“I believe if you’re looking at just some of the data metrics, just raw data metrics, I would say, yes," Huff said. "We are definitely on our way and we have systems in place to make sure that whoever is the next leader is inheriting a school system where teachers are doing outstanding things for kids, and that there are high expectations and that there’s high outcomes.
"Last year with our growth in I-READ being one of the largest in the state of Indiana, with going from 64.7% to 80.9%, that’s huge for a large urban school district that has all this complexity. Our graduation rate this year will be over 95%. That’s outstanding for a large urban school district. So I’m telling you and I truly believe that Elkhart is the gift that will keep on giving. And so I do believe that we’re leaving the district in a good place. It’s for other people to judge if it’s being left in a better place but I’m proud of the work we’ve done in the last two years.”
Elkhart school board members declined comment Wednesday.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Elkhart Community Schools holds the broadcast license for WVPE.
