Genevra Walters, retired former superintendent of Kankakee School District 111, is now at the helm of Pembroke Community Consolidated School District 259 as its interim superintendent.

Walters has been in the role for the past year and is slated to continue as interim superintendent in the 2026-27 school year.

Her salary for this past year was $108,000, and she is set to earn the same salary next school year.

As interim, she works 120 days per school year.

The former Pembroke superintendent, Nicole Terrell-Smith, was in the role for three years, from 2022 to 2025, before leaving to accept a position as treasurer of schools for Thornton Township.

Prior to Terrell-Smith, Marcus Alexander had been in the role for four years, from 2018 to 2022.

The Pembroke district contains one elementary building for kindergarten through eighth grade, Lorenzo Smith School.

The school had 184 students enrolled in 2024-25, according to the Illinois School Report Card.

Search continues

Pembroke School Board President Ira Sneed and Board Secretary Tracy Noble said the board is currently focused on the district’s financial audit.

Results of the audit are anticipated in June.

The audit is taking longer than usual because the district is working with a new auditor who had to begin the process from scratch, Noble said.

The district’s former longtime auditor retired at the same time Terrell-Smith left the district.

“Until we know where we’re at financially, the best decision for the board right now is to keep an interim [superintendent],” Noble said.

Sneed said that Walters has expressed a willingness to work with the district as long as she is needed.

“At this point, the board is just holding steady until we know our financial situation,” he said.

The board is awaiting the results of the financial audit to finalize the district’s budget for the upcoming school year.

Sneed said the board isn’t actively searching for or interviewing candidates right now.

That process will resume after the board is able to review the audit and determine what salary and benefits can be offered for a new superintendent.

“If anybody applies or approaches us, we will consider their application, but at the same time we can’t offer them anything at this point,” he said.

When the job was first posted, at least 16 people applied, but the board decided to hold off on making a full-time hire.

Board members also want to find a candidate with a genuine interest in the Pembroke and Hopkins Park community, particularly one who wants to stay long-term.

“We have the luxury of time, with Dr. Walters being there, to actually find the right person,” Sneed said.

The board is not presently working with a superintendent search firm.

Sneed said the board has used search firms before, but the companies have never been able to find a long-term superintendent.

“We have [the job posted] on the state website and on our website, and we’re going to see what we get from that as opposed to hiring a firm to try to find a superintendent for us, because that has never worked out for us in the past,” Sneed said.

Noble said her hope is that the board can find a superintendent to stay in Pembroke for the next decade.

In the meantime, Walters brings knowledge of the local community along with district leadership experience.

“Change in administration like that is not only stressful on the teachers, it’s stressful on the board and the community,” Noble said. “We need someone who wants to come and just invest in our school, invest in our children, invest in this community.”

Walters steps in

Prior to becoming the interim superintendent, Walters was working with the Pembroke district as a special-education consultant from January to June 2025.

She said she initially wanted to be an educational consultant rather than an interim superintendent in her retirement.

Walters was superintendent of Kankakee School District 111 from 2014 to 2024.

“The politics of a superintendent is pretty intense, especially coming out of [the pandemic],” she said.

However, Walters said she agreed to work with Pembroke because the school board is supportive of its community and children.

“[Supporting students] is the primary goal,” Walters said. “It’s discussed on a daily basis, whenever I interact with them, all of the decisions start with what’s in the best interest of the students.”

Walters said she is supporting the goals of the board, including ensuring the district is financially stable, improving student test scores and increasing opportunities for activities and athletics.

“I felt like with my skills, I could help them meet their goals as a community and as a board, which is to do what is in the best interest of their children,” she said.