The District 65 Board of Education will vote Tuesday, Aug. 11, on extending interim Superintendent Eric Witherspoon's contract through Jan. 31, 2027, a one-month push past his original December end date made possible by a new Illinois law expanding the number of days retired educators can work.

The vote comes two weeks before the district's new school year begins, and signals the board's effort to maintain leadership continuity while it searches for a permanent superintendent.

Witherspoon, who retired in 2022 after 16 years leading Evanston Township High School, was appointed interim superintendent at the board's June 22 meeting. His original contract ran July 1 through Dec. 31, 2026.

The new state law allows retired educators to return to work for additional days without jeopardizing their pension benefits, removing what had been a hard deadline on Witherspoon's tenure. The specific bill has not been publicly identified.

As we reported July 22, the board had planned to hire a search consultant before Witherspoon's term expired. That timeline has now shifted: at the same Aug. 11 meeting, the board will discuss hiring a search firm with the goal of naming a permanent superintendent by late January for a July 1, 2027, start.

The extra month gives the board a narrow buffer. Under the original Dec. 31 deadline, any delay in the search process risked leaving the district without a sitting superintendent during the transition.

When he accepted the interim role in late June, Witherspoon called the position "an opportunity to really help out," according to an Evanston Now profile published June 30. A veteran of more than four decades in education, he previously served as superintendent in Des Moines, Iowa; Indianapolis; and Hobart, Indiana, before his long run at ETHS.

Board President Nichole Pinkard and Board Vice President Chris Van Nostrand said in a June 23 statement that the district would launch a public, transparent search process representative of community stakeholders. Tuesday's discussion of a search firm is the next step in that process.

The district has not yet posted a public agenda for the Aug. 11 meeting.