In March of 2025, Dr. Mike Dominguez was hired as Francis Howell School District’s new superintendent following Dr. Kenneth Roumpos’ transition to Kirkwood School District. It was decided that he would officially begin his role as the district’s new superintendent on July 1, 2025. The FHSD Board of Education paid Dominguez roughly $229,166, which was one year’s pay out of what was meant to be a three-year contract. However, due to “unforeseen circumstances,” Dominguez resigned and his contract was terminated July 31, 2025.
“I talked with our Deputy Superintendent,” FHSD Board President Steven Blair said. “He had the appropriate certification and also had 20 years of experience in the district. All of those were qualities that would make him an excellent superintendent, having the skillset and the experience to lead during a time of transition.”
Mark Delaney, who was FHSD’s deputy superintendent, took on the role of the interim superintendent immediately following Dominguez’ resignation. He has been serving as FHSD’s interim superintendent since then. Delaney’s colleagues describe his leadership style as one that prioritizes collaboration within the board and treating others with respect, which is important for allowing the district to meet its goals, according to Blair.
“I’m proud of our strategic plan that will allow resources and energy to be spent in ways that will better benefit students and staff, and I am proud of the way the seven board members treat one another and focus on education above possible distractions,” Blair said.
Recently, FHSD has created a five-year “strategic plan,” which is a guide for the district to meet specific goals they have set for it by the year 2030. This includes being recognized as a top 5% school district in Missouri, increasing overall standardized testing scores and attendance and making sure all students and staff feel safe while at school.
“Anyone starting a new job has to learn the people, the personalities, the processes that are at play in that organization,” Blair said. “And that can take a while. The superintendent level, especially in Francis Howell, is complicated because we have almost 17,000 students and we have 23 buildings. So it requires a person who can think big picture, who can delegate to building level leaders and navigate the rough waters that sometimes come along with public education.”
Given that the job description of a superintendent and an interim superintendent are the same, the responsibilities held by the two positions are the same. According to Blair, having an interim superintendent as opposed to a permanent superintendent will not affect the goals of the district, nor will it affect the timeline of those goals.
“Every school district struggles with fulfilling its promise to get the best education to every student,” Blair said. “Francis Howell is exploring ways to continue to challenge students at the very top of their classes with a vigorous outcome, and also providing the resources necessary to help the people who are testing below grade level in multiple subjects.”
Currently, there are challenges happening within the district. Regarding education, the district is challenging itself to provide each student with the education that they need to the best of their abilities.
“The community has already produced survey responses that we will utilize,” Blair said, “and if a decision is made to use a search term for hiring our next superintendent, we might have another set focus group and surveys that come along with it.”
The community plays a key role in decision making within the board through community feedback surveys, as well as direct interactions with members of the board. At open monthly FHSD Board meetings, community members are encouraged to sign up for a time slot to express their thoughts and ideas regarding current events within the district.
“I am interested in talking directly with students and would be willing to meet different groups of students at Francis Howell North who want to discuss their high school experience,” Blair said.
