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Mark Jontry retiring after this term as Regional Superintendent of Schools, endorses assistant superintendent for the role

Regional Superintendent of Schools Mark Jontry and Assistant Regional Superintendent Molly Allen of Regional Office of Education #17.
Paul J. Aguilar
/
WGLT
Regional Superintendent of Schools Mark Jontry and Assistant Regional Superintendent Molly Allen of the Regional Office of Education #17.

The regional superintendent of schools for McLean, DeWitt, Livingston and Logan counties will not run for re-election.

Mark Jontry has served in his role for the Regional Office of Education [ROE] #17 for 17 years, after serving as assistant regional superintendent for four years. The ROE provides various resources and support to educators, students and families.

Jontry was selected by his predecessor Larry Daghe in 2004 and took over as the regional superintendent in 2008 upon Daghe’s retirement.

Jontry, 56, announced his retirement at a news conference on Wednesday.

“I’ve truly enjoyed the work that I’ve done here at the office. We’ve certainly increased our capacity for professional development and school improvement services to our districts,” Jontry said.

Jontry said he is particularly proud of the expansion of the Regional Alternative School program created by ROE #17 and the Illinois State Board of Education. The program began in 1989 and serves students who struggle in traditional school settings.

Jontry said he also is very happy with the creation of Central Illinois Bridge Academy in 2022, which serves students with mental health concerns.

“We’re always responsive to our school districts; when they’re articulating a need — a common need [or] common issue— if we have a way to try and address that for them at scale, that’s really what we thrive at,” he said.

Jontry announced his endorsement of his current assistant regional superintendent, Molly Allen, to succeed him. Allen plans to run for the elected seat in 2026 and joined him at the news conference.

“She’s done a wonderful job in that role — expanding the services that we deliver,” Jontry said. “I’m very, very confident in her ability to lead this organization going forward."

Allen stepped into her role in 2020. She has primarily worked on literacy programs for students.

Assistant Regional Superintendent Molly Allen (black dress) attended Mark Jontry's retirement announcement with her family.
Paul J. Aguilar
/
WGLT
Assistant Regional Superintendent Molly Allen, second from left, attended Mark Jontry's retirement announcement with her family.

Allen said she plans to follow the example Jontry set for her if she is elected as the next regional superintendent.

“I am committed to focusing on school safety, services to our school communities and skills for our students,” she said. “While education is a changing landscape, we certainly understand that the fundamentals are most important. My work over the last several years in education has been really focused on that and I look forward to continuing that in a new role.”

Jontry said a goal of ROE #17 has been to recruit more teachers for the districts they serve. Jontry said the shortage of teachers has been mitigated slightly, but there is still work to be done.

“Where we still have challenges are specialty — areas such as special ed [and] foreign language — those are probably the two that are hardest to fill because not as many people are interested in working in that scope,” he said.

“I think our districts are getting more and more creative in how they’re trying to provide compensation for teachers, and I think we’re also doing a better job intentionally — across the state — of trying to recruit individual students while they’re late in junior high or early high school that may show an interest in the profession.”

Allen said distractions in the classroom also remain a concern for teachers and administrators. The issue has largely been left to school districts to address as Illinois lawmakers failed to pass a cellphone ban Gov. JB Pritzker proposed this year.

“The issue of cell phones in school has to be a community project; you have to have parents on board [and] you have to have educators on board, and so I think where it’s been successful is helping both parents and schools understand when [it’s] appropriate, when they help in learning and when they are a distraction to learning," Allen said.

"I think the more our school districts are engaging parents in those conversations around what does appropriate technology use look like in the classroom and how parents can be supportive of that because it affects the home life, too."

Paul J. Aguilar is a correspondent at WGLT. He was previously a student reporter at WGLT while attending Illinois State University.