Schools

Outgoing SD161 Board Members Extend Superintendent's Contract in Controversial Vote

Amid protests from the public and other members, the Summit Hill School Board gives Superintendent Keith Pain a three-year extension and 2.1 percent pay raise.

In a move that upset those in attendance—including some board members—the Summit Hill School District 161 Board approved by a 4-3 vote a three-year contract extension as well as a 2.1 percent pay increase for District Superintendent Keith Pain at Wednesday's meeting.

The controversial vote comes a day after . Macek, Balcerzak, Sean William Doyle—the board president who was re-elected Tuesday—and Dee Molinare were in favor of the extension and pay raise. Mary Kenny, Joy Murphy and Denise A. Lenz voted against them.

"That was why you were voted out, for shady things like that," shouted one meeting attendee who stormed out of the room after the vote.  

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Pain's contract, which still had two years left on it, was extended to June 2014. The salary increase came as part of a measure that gave 2.1 percent pay raises to all district administrators, which includes principals as well as the superintendent. 

Before voting on the measures, the board met in closed session to discuss the contract extension and pay increase proposals. Once back in open session, board member Kenny voiced her objections, saying these matters should be decided by the new board, which will be sworn in May 2. 

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"At this point, I can't vote for this contract extension because in the past on several occasions when we've had a new board coming on we've allowed the contract to go for two years and at the end of that two years we've let the new board decide how long to let the contract extend for," she said. "And also I have not seen a copy of this contract in quite a few years. And I wasn't aware of the fact that we were going to vote on the contract tonight until this evening." 

Kenny and fellow board member Murphy accused their colleagues who supported the measures as trying to use the "lame-duck board" as a way to push through unpopular legislation to advance their own agendas.

Board President Doyle said voting on the extension was nothing unusual and that the board followed the same process it's being doing for years.

"The board does an evaluation of the superintendent every year, it's done in the springtime," he said. "In the board's judgment, if they decide that the evaluation was good enough to warrant adding an extra year in the contract, that's (what they can do)."

The board gave Pain a similar extension in 2009, which also was an election year, Doyle said. 

Doyle also refutes claims that members are using the lame-duck board to do anything nefarious and not above-board.  

"I don't think it was (done in) a less-than-upfront manner," he said. "We do the same procedure every single year. Why would you have a (new) board—some members who haven't worked with the superintendent, who didn't take part in the evaluation—why would you have a board with that new membership decide on a contract extension? You should have the board who worked with the employee make the decision."

Doyle added that he doesn't know why Kenny was surprised by the measure, saying it was added to the agenda Monday morning well within the mandated 48 hours before a meeting. 

Kenny says it was not on the hard copy agenda she saw as of Monday afternoon. She added that she doesn't use e-mail or go online to check the meeting agenda—something Doyle and other board members know. Kenny said Doyle knows to contact her by phone if changes have been made to the agenda.

Newly elected board members George Perros and Stacey Borgens were in attendance at the meeting and did not agree with the board's decisions.

"As the new board, we've been backed into a corner," Borgens said of the 2.1 percent pay increase. "We're the ones who are going to look like bad guys when we have to make cuts down the line."


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