Colleagues who have worked with incoming DeKalb School District 428 Superintendent Billy Hueramo said they’re excited for his appointment, citing his lengthy career in DeKalb and relationship with students as vital to progress.

Beginning July 1, Hueramo is expected to take on the job of succeeding Minerva Garcia-Sanchez, who decided last year not to seek renewal of her employment contract with the district.

Hueramo said he’s put in a lot of work over the years.

“I feel the hard work that I’ve done [and] the dedication that I’ve put into the district started here as a student teacher,” Hueramo said. “I went from student teacher to teacher to assistant principal, from assistant principal to principal. The principal position, I was able to see a whole K-5 cohort go through kindergarten all the way through fifth grade.”

As a familiar face at the DeKalb Education Center, Hueramo will take on the superintendent position after serving as the district’s director of teaching and learning for elementary education. He also has assumed previous roles within DeKalb schools as an elementary curriculum coordinator, bilingual education teacher, principal and assistant principal.

Brent McIntosh, a seventh-grade teacher at Clinton-Rosette Middle School, said Hueramo was great to work with.

Hueramo was one of McIntosh’s assistants in 2009 while both teaching and coaching soccer at the middle school.

“Billy was a great teacher in the classroom,” McIntosh said. “He was a real staunch advocate for his students, and he was a great teammate. It was really easy to work with Billy. You could tell that he really had a lot of high-level teacher skills. His students and the soccer players really gravitated toward him. So, it was real easy to work with Billy.”

Sarah Montgomery, the district’s director of teaching and learning for secondary education, said she’s enjoyed working in tandem with Hueramo.

“He’s been a good partner to [shape] curriculum and instructional strategies and professional development for our building leaders and for our teachers and our certified staff,” Montgomery said. “We’ve been able to establish strong priorities under Minerva that we will continue under his tenure.”

A graduate of Northern Illinois University, Kishwaukee College and Aurora University, Hueramo brings a foundation of both knowledge and experience to the job.

The job’s duties consist of acting as the CEO to the school board, making recommendations on the district’s budget; building plans; location of sites; selection, retention and dismissal of teachers and other employees; selection of textbooks, instructional materials and courses of study; and other matters requested by the board related to the superintendent’s duties.

Hueramo said he already has a good idea of what the job entails.

“I think it’s more about becoming informed on new policies that are coming out, new strategies within education, working with our students,” he said. “It’s really helping me develop myself so that I can help develop our leaders in the district.”

McIntosh said Hueramo represents everything a teacher could want or need in a superintendent. As an educator nearing retirement, he said he is excited to see Hueramo taking on added leadership.

“The way I look at Billy’s appointment, for me personally, could not have asked for a better candidate to become our superintendent to help me navigate these last four years,” McIntosh said. “I’m excited for our student population. I think that what Billy will bring to our district is a sense of accountability for our students. Along with that sense of accountability, he’ll also supply resources for not only our students, but [also] for our teachers throughout the district to be successful.”

Montgomery said she looks forward to seeing Hueramo exert greater leadership in his new role.

“It will be very important to stay the course of the initiatives that we have and see them through, and then continue to hone and develop them,” Montgomery said. “I think in any educational setting, we need to be careful that we’re not just grabbing and holding onto initiatives that are the flash in the pan. We need to look long term.”

As a DeKalb resident, Hueramo has exhibited a dedication to serving the community.

He has spent his entire career in education working for DeKalb schools. Hueramo said he believes he’s prepared to lead on day one.

“I understand a lot of the needs of our families,” Hueramo said. “I’ve been able to make connections with people throughout the community to help support some of those needs. I think [the goal is to] just [continue] to work with local organizations to be able to provide what our families need, and then working with them to get more to participate in education.”

Hueramo pointed to schools hosting family nights as one of the ways he’s helped foster family engagement at the elementary level.

“It’s something we need to do a little bit more across the district,” he said. “I know Jefferson [Elementary School] has multicultural night, and we have a huge turnout then. There’s other buildings that have different theme-related and more informal things. I think that’s where we need to capitalize and capture more of our families.”

Cortland Elementary School Principal Jennifer Hillard said she’s excited for Hueramo to take over.

Hillard used to work with Hueramo at Littlejohn Elementary School, where he served as principal from 2014 to 2020.

“He’s never lost sight of what it means to be leader of a building or a teacher,” Hillard said. “When I’ve got questions about anything, he’s definitely my thought partner – someone I go to for advice or just to bounce ideas off of.”

As superintendent, Hueramo will earn an annual salary of $215,000 along with employee health insurance benefits, according to the employment agreement. The contract also affords him paid time off with 20 vacation days, 15 sick days and four personal leave days every year.

Montgomery said she looks forward to seeing what Hueramo accomplishes as superintendent.

“I would say his strong understanding of our current initiatives and his vision to bring them forward and continue to grow and hone them” make him a good fit for the role, Montgomery said.

Hillard said she believes the school board got it right picking Hueramo for the job.

“One of the things I’ve admired about Billy is that he manages to get over here more than any other person that I’ve worked with at that level who’s been a director, who’s been able to make sure that they’re still seeing teachers in classrooms and getting to see what kids are doing,” she said. “It inspires me to continue to get in those classrooms and be visible for not just the kids but [also] the teachers.”