Superintendent Matthew Wendt

School District 308 in Oswego will be looking for a new leader as Superintendent Matthew Wendt has officially tendered his resignation.

The School Board accepted the resignation at its Feb. 8 meeting.

Wendt’s resignation takes effect June 30.

Wendt is leaving to accept the superintendent’s position with Fayetteville Public Schools in Arkansas after the School Board there voted unanimously Jan. 28 to hire him following interviews held earlier that month.  The move will apparently allow Wendt to be closer to family in the area.

The District 308 board stated Feb. 8 it does not plan to hire a search firm to recruit candidates for the superintendent job, according to reports. Instead, the job opening will be posted on the district’s web site and with state organizations.

The board wants to stay with qualified candidates who live in the region close to the district, and not be looking out of state, according to reports.

School District 308 includes 22 schools and serves portions of Montgomery, Aurora, and Plainfield as well as Oswego,  

Before coming to District 308 in 2012, Wendt  served as superintendent for a district outside of Des Moines, Iowa.  

He had reportedly broken a contract with that district to come to District 308 and that break led to some legal challenges before a settlement was reached between Wendt and the Iowa school district.

In 2014, District 308 gave Wendt a contract that was to run through 2019.

— District 308 will be searching for new superintendent —