Superintendent of Belleville high schools leaving for Millstadt elementary district
Brian Mentzer is leaving his job as superintendent of Belleville Township High School District 201 to work for a much smaller elementary district that feeds into one of 201’s high schools.
Mentzer will serve as assistant superintendent of Millstadt Consolidated Community School District 160 for six months, beginning this summer, before replacing Superintendent Brad Landgraf, who plans to retire in January 2026 after more than 32 years in education.
District 201 has nearly 4,800 students and a $95 million annual budget. That compares to 700 students and a $10.5 million budget in District 160.
On Thursday, Mentzer and Landgraf both emphasized that their decisions to move on resulted from personal introspection on how they want to spend the rest of their lives, not on any issues in their current districts.
“There’s nothing negative,” said Mentzer, 49, who lives in Millstadt. “I love my job. I love this district. I love the staff. We’re doing really good things. My board of education has been unwavering in its support.”
Mentzer’s family owns a storage business, and he would like the flexibility to help out from time to time. Also, his “bucket list” of things he wants to do at some point includes college teaching and consulting. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children.
Taking the Millstadt job represents a homecoming of sorts for Mentzer. He served as District 160 superintendent for two years before joining District 201 administration in 2012.
‘Ready for a change’
Landgraf, 56, of Columbia, became Millstadt superintendent in 2018 after serving as a P.E., health and driver’s education teacher near Springfield for three years and an elementary teacher, assistant principal and principal in Columbia Community Unit School District 4 for 22 years.
Landgraf said he’s retiring because he’s been working in education since he was 24 years old.
“I’m just ready for a change,” he said.
Landgraf envisions himself getting a part-time job and spending more time with his family, including wife Kelly, a math teacher in Columbia, and two sons. He hopes to return to golf and maybe take up pickleball.
Mentzer began his career in Belleville School District 118, first as a teacher at Jefferson and Franklin elementary schools and later as Franklin’s principal for seven years. After two years in Millstadt, Mentzer became assistant superintendent for District 201 in 2012 and superintendent in 2020.
District 201 includes Belleville East High School, Belleville West High School and the Center for Academic and Vocational Excellence, also known as The CAVE. Mentzer earns $196,452 a year.
District 201 school board President Mark Sauerwein said board members were disappointed by Mentzer’s resignation because he’s been such a good superintendent, showing particularly strong leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they understood his decision.
The board has asked former Superintendent Jeff Dosier, now retired, to help with the search for a replacement.
“We’re doing both an internal and external search,” Sauerwein said. “We have a lot of good people in the district, so we definitely will consider some of them, but we’re also opening it up to the outside. With a district this large, we want to make sure we get it right.”
The board hopes to hire a new superintendent well before he or she starts work on July 1, according to Sauerwein.
‘We all know him well’
District 160 includes Millstadt Primary Center (pre-kindergarten through second grade) and Millstadt Consolidated School (grades 3-8). Most students continue on to Belleville West.
Landgraf is paid $142,400 a year. His contract was supposed to end after the 2025-26 school year.
School board President Matt Milton said Landgraf has been a good superintendent, and board members would have liked him to stay, but they didn’t object to him retiring early.
The board opted to hire Mentzer to serve as assistant superintendent during a transition period instead of hiring an interim for six months or trying to find someone willing to start work in the middle of a school year.
“The board had to go through the process to find a new (superintendent) and try to minimize the disruption and get the best candidate, and we were fortunate enough that Brian applied,” Milton said. “He was a past superintendent, and we all know him well.”
Mentzer will be paid $145,000 a year in his new job.
‘I’ve been fortunate’
Looking back on his time in District 201, Mentzer is most proud of The CAVE, a “state-of-the-art” facility that offers advanced vocational courses, allowing students to gain skills to start careers right out of high school or earn college credit for continuing education.
The facility has been expanded to more than 115,000 square feet. Dozens of business partners provide instruction on everything from elementary education to interior finishing and aircraft engine maintenance.
Housed in a converted tennis and fitness club, The CAVE has a field house with indoor tennis courts, an indoor turf practice field, batting cages, a dance studio and golf simulator.
Landgraf’s proudest moments as an educator include the naming of Parkview Elementary School in Columbia as a National Blue Ribbon School for high achievement in 2017-2018.
This year in Millstadt, students got their highest test scores on record. Also on Landgraf’s watch, the school began offering “encore” classes to older students, allowing them to explore non-traditional subjects and skills, ranging from Spanish to robotics.
Landgraf said none of these accomplishments would have been possible without teamwork by students, teachers, other school staff and families in Columbia and Millstadt.
“I’ve been fortunate to work in two wonderful communities and two excellent school districts,” he said.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
