'Angst' Over Elmhurst District 205 Interim Leader Appointments

ELMHURST, IL – The Elmhurst school board on Tuesday approved two interim leaders, one a familiar face, for Sandburg Middle School.

In so doing, one board member acknowledged "angst" in Elmhurst over hiring interim principals at both Sandburg and York High School.

The Elmhurst District 205 board appointed Michael Boraz as Sandburg's interim principal for the next year. He recently retired from the Chicago Public Schools.

For the last seven years in Chicago, Boraz was an administrator who oversaw 28 schools. Before that, he was the principal of Lincoln Park High School.

The Elmhurst board did not reveal Boraz's pay at Sandburg. Patch emailed an inquiry to the district.

The board also appointed Jeff Gail, who just retired as Sandburg's assistant principal, as an interim school administrator at the school for 50 days through October, making $525 a day.

He is expected to help with the transition for Boraz and Brandi Greene, the incoming assistant principal.

At Tuesday's meeting, board member Courtenae Trautmann noted the recent interim appointments.

"It provides angst in our community about what it looks like," she said.

But she said she felt "super strongly" that hiring the interim Sandburg officials was the best possible scenario for stability, given the challenges.

She said it would mean fewer "hiccups" than if the board made a "knee-jerk decision that won't serve the community."

In May, Sandburg's principal, Joshua Louis, informed the district he was leaving for a principal's job elsewhere. His announcement was after the typical hiring season for administrators had ended.

The district said it searched for a replacement, but was unable to find the right person.

Boraz said he started his career in education in a middle school. In his administrative job, he said he felt "a little bit of distance from what's most exciting about schools, which is students' energy."

"I don't think there is any more energy that's more infectious than the energy of middle school students," Boraz said.

Because Chicago educators are in a separate pension system, Boraz has no limit on how many hours he can work in public schools outside the city.

Gail, however, is capped at 120 days under the Teachers Retirement System's rules.