League Advisory Board

The League of Innovative Schools is guided and advised in its work by the following district leaders:

• Steve Webb, Vancouver Public Schools – Board Chair
  Dr. Steven T. Webb became superintendent of Vancouver Public Schools in July 2008. He joined the district as deputy superintendent in 2006. Webb has a distinguished 32-year career in public education in Washington and California, serving as superintendent, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendent for secondary learning and technology, principal and assistant principal, high school teacher and coach. He is the 2016-17 president-elect of the Washington Association of School Administrators. Webb also is a member of Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, the Western States Benchmarking Consortium, the Coalition for Community Schools, the Horace Mann League and AASA’s Digital Consortium.

• Patricia Deklotz, Kettle Moraine School District
  Patricia Deklotz has served the past 11 years as superintendent of Kettle Moraine School District (KMSD), a K-12 district serving 4,000 students in southeastern Wisconsin. Most recently, Deklotz was recognized by Education Week as one of ten 2017 Leaders to Learn from. In 2016 she was recognized as Wisconsin’s Superintendent of the Year for her leadership in transforming the district’s schools to better and more efficiently meet the needs of all students through personalized learning. Under Deklotz’s leadership, KMSD has created three charter high schools and one elementary charter, a Youth Apprenticeship Advanced Manufacturing Certificate diploma, and multi-age, project-based learning environments in all schools throughout the district.
• Erik Gundersen, Pascack Valley Regional High School District
  Erik Gundersen is the superintendent of schools for the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, located in Bergen County, New Jersey.  Erik earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics Education from the University of Delaware, a Masters degree in Educational Technology from New Jersey City University, and an Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from Seton Hall University.  He has spent his entire 22-year career in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District serving as a physics teacher, supervisor of science and technology education, director of curriculum, and is now completing his sixth year as superintendent.  Erik continues his work and passion for physics as an author of several physics textbooks, including “The Handy Physics Answer Book,” and “Applied Physics.”

• Christine Johns, Utica Community Schools
  Dr. Christine M. Johns is the Superintendent of Utica Community Schools, Michigan’s second largest school district with an enrollment of 28,600 students. Under Dr. Johns’ leadership, Utica Community Schools has been at the forefront of implementing educational changes that provide students a depth of knowledge for college and career readiness. She has led her district through fundamental changes by creating the “Reaching Higher” initiative to increase expectations and rigor for UCS students. Recently, every high school in the district has been named among the nation’s best by Newsweek magazine.

• Damian LaCroix, Howard-Suamico School District
  Damian LaCroix currently serves as Superintendent of Schools for the Howard-Suamico School District. Under his leadership, Howard-Suamico School District won the Proficiency Award from the Wisconsin Center for Performance Excellence, Bay Port High School has been recognized nationally by Newsweek and The Washington Post as one of the top high schools in America, and two elementary schools have been acknowledged by the US Department of Education’s prestigious Blue Ribbon School of Excellence program. LaCroix earned his specialist’s certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his master’s degree from Marian University, and his bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University. He was selected as the 2017 Wisconsin Superintendent of the Year.

• Bart Rocco, Elizabeth Forward School District
  Dr. Bart Rocco has served as superintendent of the Elizabeth Forward School District for eight years. Previous to this, he was Assistant Superintendent for two and a half years for the West Mifflin Area School District, Assistant Principal and Principal for fourteen years (mostly) at Thomas Jefferson High School, and began his career with ten years as a teacher of English and Journalism at South Park High School. Bart was raised in the Monongahela Valley before pursuing his Bachelor of Arts Degree and Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from Duquesne University. He completed his principal’s certification at California University of Pennsylvania and earned his Doctorate in Education from the University of Pittsburgh.

• Bille Rondinelli, South Fayette Township School District
  Dr. Bille Pearce Rondinelli is the Superintendent for the South Fayette Township School District, McDonald, Pennsylvania and has served in public education since 1979. During that time, Rondinelli served as an administrator in the Mt. Lebanon school system just prior to accepting her position as Curriculum Director K-12 in the Moon Area School District (1999). While at Moon Area, Rondinelli was promoted to Assistant Superintendent/Curriculum and received two Commissioned terms. Following her tenure at Moon Area, Rondinelli served as Assistant Superintendent/Secondary (Grades 7-12) for the Pine-Richland School District and was hired as Associate Superintendent for the Shaler Area School District.