For the third time in seven years the Fox C-6 School District will have a new leader.
The Board of Education has hired Paul Fregeau as the new superintendent, replacing Nisha Patel, who is leaving at the end of the school year to take a job as superintendent of the School District of Clayton.
Fox school board president Vicki Hanson said the seven-member board voted unanimously Monday (March 15) to hire Fregeau.
Hanson said the board gave him a three-year contract and will pay him $222,500 next school year, which is $40,00 more than Patel’s $182,500 salary at Fox this school year.
Patel will have a three-year contract with Clayton and will be paid $215,000 in her first year there, the Clayton district reported.
“We felt investing in the district with an experienced superintendent is one of the most important things we can do,” Hanson said. “There are very few jobs as important in the community as who leads the school because we employ a large number of people and it affects the community a great deal. His salary is in line with his experience and our expectations.”
Fregeau, who has been an educator for more than 30 years, has been the superintendent of the Decatur (Ill.) Public School District since March 2017.
“I am honored to be selected as the new superintendent of the Fox C-6 School District,” Fregeau said in a written statement.
Hanson said board members interviewed four candidates for the position and leaned heavily on the list of qualities district stakeholders said they were looking for in a superintendent.
The Fox district had hired EGL (Education, Governance and Leadership) Association to oversee the superintendent search, and the firm compiled the list using information those stakeholders provided through surveys and forums.
Hanson said Fregeau plans to move to the district.
“We found somebody with significant experience and demonstrated success,” Hanson said. “We feel he is committed to staying, and that was one of the most important things that continually came up in all the surveys. My hope is that he retires from here.”
Patel’s last official day at Fox is June 30.
Patel, 48, of Chesterfield was named Fox’s superintendent on Jan. 29, 2019, taking over for Jim Wipke, who left for a job as superintendent of the Ladue School District.
Fregeau will take over as Fox’s superintendent on July 1.
“The Fox community takes great pride in our school district,” board president Vicki Hanson said. “The Board of Education knows that Dr. Fregeau will further the legacy that has been established in Fox of great students, great teachers and academic success.”
Fregeau was in the third year of a five-year contract with Decatur. The contract paid him $197,000 for the first year of the deal with potential raises each subsequent year through June 30, 2023, pending school board approval, according to the contract posted on the district’s website.
Fregeau’s current salary is $202,910, Decatur chief communications officer Denise Swarthout said.
Decatur’s board members will need to vote to release Fregeau from his contract. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday (March 23), according to Decatur’s website.
Before joining the Decatur district, Fregeau was an assistant superintendent for the North Kansas City Schools for 10 years. He also was the superintendent for Cass-Midway R-1 School District in Cleveland from July 2004 to June 2007 before that, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Fregeau earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, a master’s degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a doctorate from St. Louis University.
“As a native of Missouri education, I have always held Fox in high regard,” said Fregeau. “I appreciate the rich history of community support for the school system, as well as the strong academic history and wide range of extra-curricular opportunities. I am looking forward to working with the Fox C-6 community to benefit all kids in our district.”
Fregeau and his wife, April, have two adult children.
Patel, who is in her 22nd year as an educator, came to Fox in 2016, when she was named the district’s assistant superintendent in charge of secondary education.