On Monday, December 16, 2025 KILJ sat down with superintendent of Mount Pleasant Community Schools, John Henriksen, to get an update. Here are a few of the highlights:
At a recent organizational meeting, the Mount Pleasant School Board re-elected Angie Blint as Board President and elected Aaron Williamson as Vice President. They will serve in these roles for the next year.
Today, December 16, 2025, the top three candidates vying for superintendent of Mount Pleasant Community School District will be on campus taking tours and doing interviews. Following a review process conducted with Grundmeyer Leader Services, the board selected Dr. Sharon Dentlinger, Ken Kasper, and Derek Philips as finalists for the position.
Dr. Dentlinger currently serves as an assistant professor of practice and superintendent program coordinator at the University of Northern Iowa and as director of special education for the Knoxville Community School District. Mr. Kasper is the superintendent for the Garner Hayfield Ventura and Rudd Rockford Marble Rock Community School Districts. And Mr. Philips serves as principal of Davis County High School in Bloomfield and has previously served as superintendent of the Pekin Community School District.
Henriksen says the board hopes to make a decision tonight during their special board meeting on who they’d like the new superintendent to be, which will be a closed session to discuss the candidates. Once they have decided on their top candidate, they will offer the position. Once the candidate accepts, the new superintendent of MPCSD will be announced, a process that may take a week or two, according to Henriksen. The new superintendent will assume their leadership role on July 1, 2026 following Henriksen’s retirement.
And upcoming this Thursday, December 18, 2025, the Facilities Ad Hoc Committee will meet for their third and final session. The goal is to come up with a proposal for the school board for the future of our elementary attendance centers, which will be presented to the school board in January. All information and notes from the facilities ad hoc committee meetings can be found following a link on the MPCSD’s homepage.
KILJ will keep you updated on the superintendent search as news becomes available as well as the proposal put together by the Facilities Ad Hoc Committee.