Duties
Reports To: Superintendent of Schools
Directly Supervises:
• Principal Supervisors
• School Improvement
• Leadership Development
POSITION SUMMARY
The Chief of Schools serves as the district’s senior executive leader responsible for instructional leadership execution and professional development systems across all schools.
This role ensures that every principal is:
- A strong instructional leader
- Accountable for student performance
- Equipped with coaching and feedback systems
- Supported through structured professional learning
- Developed through a clear leadership pipeline
The Chief of Schools focuses on how leadership practice improves student outcomes by strengthening principal supervision, school improvement execution, and leadership development systems.
CORE RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Districtwide School Improvement Design
- Designs and leads the districtwide school improvement framework, including tiered support models for schools based on performance level.
- Establishes structured quarterly school performance review cycles aligned to the District Strategic Plan.
- Develops planning protocols ensuring alignment between school improvement plans, staffing structures, budget allocations, instructional time priorities, and operational systems.
- Oversees turnaround strategy for identified priority schools, including differentiated support and leadership interventions.
- Ensures all school improvement efforts are measurable, sustainable, and aligned to district goals.
2. Operational Planning & Systems Alignment
- Establishes district planning standards to ensure coherence between improvement plans, resource allocation, and implementation expectations.
- Partners with Cabinet leaders to align school improvement design with curriculum implementation, human capital strategy, finance, and operations.
- Ensures that district initiatives translate into executable school-level action plans.
- Monitors fidelity of implementation across schools and regions.
3. Principal Supervision & Performance Accountability
- Directly supervises and evaluates Principal Supervisors.
- Implements a rigorous, standards-aligned principal evaluation system focused on instructional leadership and student outcomes.
- Differentiates supervision intensity based on school performance and leader need.
- Uses student achievement, attendance, graduation, climate, and growth data to drive leader performance reviews.
- Holds principal supervisors accountable for implementation fidelity of district improvement initiatives.
4. Leadership Coaching & Capacity Building
- Provides executive coaching to principals and principal supervisors.
- Develops individualized growth plans for school leaders aligned to performance data.
- Conducts joint instructional walkthroughs and models data-driven instructional conversations.
- Builds a culture of continuous improvement and reflective leadership practice.
5. Districtwide Instructional Walkthrough System
- Designs and implements a coherent districtwide instructional walkthrough framework aligned to district curriculum and instructional priorities.• Establishes clear instructional “look-fors” that guide supervision and professional learning.
- Ensures consistent observation protocols across schools and regions.
- Analyzes walkthrough trends to identify districtwide instructional strengths and gaps.
- Aligns observation data to leadership development and school improvement planning.
6. Attendance & School Engagement Execution
- Establishes district attendance accountability standards.Oversees development and implementation of school-based attendance improvement plans.
- Monitors early warning systems and intervention strategies.
- Aligns attendance strategies with school climate and engagement initiatives.
- Holds school leaders accountable for meeting attendance targets.
7. Leadership Pipeline & Succession Planning
- Designs and oversees a comprehensive leadership pipeline strategy.
- Leads recruitment, selection, and placement processes for school leaders in partnership with Human Resources.
- Develops aspiring principal and assistant principal programs.
- Establishes succession planning protocols to ensure leadership continuity.
- Promotes leadership diversity reflective of student demographics and community representation.
8. Professional Development & Leadership Academies
- Designs and delivers districtwide professional learning for principals and assistant principals.
- Establishes leadership academies, learning cohorts, and executive coaching structures.
- Ensures professional learning is directly aligned to instructional priorities and improvement goals.
- Monitors the impact of leadership development initiatives on school performance.
9. New Principal Induction
- Develops and oversees a structured new principal induction program.
- Implements 30-60-90 day entry plans.
- Assigns mentors and executive coaches to new leaders.
- Conducts induction progress reviews to ensure successful onboarding.
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
The Chief of Schools will be evaluated based on measurable improvements in:
- Principal effectiveness ratings
- Implementation fidelity of school improvement plans
- Student growth and proficiency outcomes
- Attendance and engagement rates
- Leadership retention and succession readiness
- Performance outcomes in identified priority schools
- Coherence and consistency of leadership supervision systems
Qualifications
Education
- Master’s degree required
- Doctoral degree preferred
- Illinois Professional Educator License with General Administrative Endorsement
Experience
- Minimum five (5) years of leadership experience in education
- Successful experience as a building principal required
- Experience supervising and coaching school leaders required
- Demonstrated success designing and executing school improvement systems
- Demonstrated impact on student performance through leadership systems
LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES
The Chief of Schools must demonstrate:
- Deep instructional leadership expertise
- Executive-level coaching and supervision skill
- Systems thinking and organizational alignment capability
- Data-driven performance management
- Strategic planning and execution discipline
- Commitment to equity and high expectations
- Ability to build cross-department coherence at the cabinet level
- Clear and compelling communication with stakeholders
GOVERNANCE & REPORTING
- Reports directly to the Superintendent
- Serves as a member of the Superintendent’s Cabinet
- Provides regular student support and compliance reports to the Board
- Evaluated annually based on student outcome metrics and compliance performance
Salary/Benefits
Expected salary range from $195,000 to $230,000, fringe benefits, and work year as established by the Board of Education.
Evaluation: Performance evaluated annually by the Superintendent.
FLSA Status: Exempt
Status: Revised February 2026
Additional Notes
JG Consulting has partnered with Champaign Unit 4 School District to facilitate the search for this role.
:PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR THE FULL JOB DESCRIPTION:
Champaign Unit 4 School District is a large unit school district serving more than 10,000 students in grades pre-K through 12 in Champaign, Savoy, and Bondville, Illinois. Our 19 campuses employ more than 2,000 teachers, administrators, and support personnel, including some of the brightest educators in the region. Our District represents the diversity of our world, fosters positive learning environments to prepare students for college and careers, and our schools empower students to succeed on any path they choose.
Download Job Description: Click here
How to Apply
Please submit your resume through the application on our website.
Link to District/Third Party Online Application Web Page
https://jobs.jgconsulting.us/jobdetail/ZR_95_JOB