Evanston/Skokie school district administrator picked as new Oswego SD308 superintendent

Evanston/Skokie School District 65′s assistant superintendent of human resources will become Oswego SD308′s next superintendent.

At a special workshop meeting Wednesday, June 14, school board members voted 6-0 to approve a three-year contract with Andalib Khelghati. He will start July 1.

“I am looking forward to working with all members of the community to celebrate and ensure the success of each and every child.”

—  New Oswego SD308 School Superintendent Andalib Khelghati

He succeeds John Sparlin, who is retiring at the end of June with a year remaining on his contract. Sparlin joined the district in 2012 as the executive director for administrative services and was promoted to assistant superintendent for administrative services in 2013.

Khelghati has served as Evanston/Skokie School District 65′s assistant superintendent of human resources since 2021. Prior to that, he had served as the district’s assistant superintendent of schools for four years. He also is a former teacher and principal.

His hiring culminated a nationwide search for a new superintendent. Oak Park-based School Exec Connect put together a profile detailing what qualities the new superintendent should possess based on input provided at staff and community forums and through an online questionnaire. The school board hired School Exec Connect after Sparlin announced he was retiring.

Twenty-nine candidates applied for the position.

“Dr. Khelghati is equally an educational systems and culture change agent, with a focus on fiscal responsibility,” Oswego School Board President LaTonya Simelton said after the vote. “He’s a strategic thinker and leads from a lens that students don’t fail, systems fail. Dr. Khelghati is a relationship builder, which leads to trust among students, staff and community. He communicates a clear vision and is the messenger to lead a systems and cultural transformation of transparency and opportunity and a climate of inclusion. He’s an experienced and proven educational leader, and the board looks forward to the progress he will make toward the vision for our students and district as the new superintendent of Community Unit School District 308.”

“I am looking forward to working with all members of the community to celebrate and ensure the success of each and every child,” Khelghati said in a news release from the district.