New District 201 superintendent has deep ties to metro-east, Belleville High Schools
After a decade with Belleville Township High School District 201, Marshaun C. Warren was promoted to become its next superintendent.
Warren, who is currently the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion, will assume her new role July 1. She will replace current superintendent Brian Mentzer, who is leaving the district for Millstadt Consolidated Community School District 160.
The District 201 School Board made its unanimous decision in closed session of its Jan. 28 meeting and announced the hire Tuesday. Salary information was not immediately available.
District 201 has nearly 4,800 students and a $95 million annual budget. It includes both the East and West high school campuses and the Center for Academic and Vocational Excellence, or CAVE.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity and I’m looking forward to serving the district,” Warren said at Tuesday’s board meeting.
For Warren, a large part of that excitement is due to her deep roots in the area. The Cahokia Heights native started her educational career at Belleville’s Whiteside Middle School as a teacher, and later was its assistant principal.
As far as her tenure with District 201, Warren “has been with the district at virtually every level,” Mentzer said. She started in principal positions at Belleville East High School before working at the district office. Over the years, she’s led administrative services, human resources, and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Both of her children attend school in Belleville. Her oldest son is a senior at Belleville East, and her youngest is a first grader at Wolf Branch Elementary School.
“I live here, I work here, and it’s important that I educate my children here,” she said. “District 201 is a district of excellence. Of course I would want my own children to benefit from all of the wonderful things that district 201 has to offer.”
Warren’s own educational journey is set locally. She holds a PhD in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University, as well as two master’s degrees from Lindenwood University and a bachelor’s from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.