Michelle Morse will become the superintendent of Bettendorf Schools beginning July 1.
The Bettendorf School Board is expected to approve her contract at the next school board meeting, March 23.
āShe brings a skill set that will help enable our already tremendous staff to carry out the districtās goals and mission," Adam Holland, school board president, said in a news release.
Morse, he said, has "the demonstrated experience of being the life-long learner that we strive to develop our students into becoming.ā
Morse has more than 25 years of experience in public education and currently is the assistant superintendent, human resources, for Newhall School District in Valencia, Calif. Before that, she was the director of special education for Conejo Valley Unified School District in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
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Morse also has experience with Saugus Union School District in Santa Clarita, Calif., where she served as director of child development programs, program specialist for student support services, and summer-school principal.
She has also worked for Generation Ready, based in New York, as the west coast education director.
Morse has served as an adjunct faculty member for the University of Southern California Doctor of Education Program as well as College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita in early childhood, allied health and speech-language pathology assistant program.
She earned her doctorate of education from the University of Southern California. Her dissertation is "Strategies Used by Superintendents in Developing Leadership Teams."
Morse earned a masterās in educational leadership and a masterās degree in special education (early childhood emphasis) from California State University, Los Angeles. She earned a bachelor's degree in communication disorders with a minor in psychology from Augustana College, Rock Island.
The search firm Ray and Associates helped with the process, which included reviewing application materials, interviewing semifinalist candidates and assessing the qualifications of candidates in relation to the candidate profile determined by the board, district employees and community members.
The board evaluated eight applicants from a pool of 36 and interviewed three before narrowing the search to two finalists interviewed Feb. 6 in the district.
Superintendent Mike Raso took a personal leave of absence through the end of his contract. Previously, the board had twice voted unanimously not to automatically renew his contract.
Retired Pleasant Valley Superintendent Jim Spelhaug was appointed to serve as superintendent through the end of the school year.