Elmhurst Schools Hire $120-An-Hour PR Consultant

ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst School District 205 board approved a contract earlier this month for a $120-an-hour public relations consultant.

Faith Behr, a longtime consultant based in Naperville, agreed to act as the interim executive director of communications. That position went vacant after the recent resignation of Beverly Redmond. Behr's contract lasts through Dec. 22.

The agreement's approval comes in the wake of the controversy over the hiring of another consultant, Jarvis Sanford, who had previously worked with the district's superintendent. He was hired as an $800-a-day "teaching and learning" consultant.

But the district told Patch a few days later that Sanford had terminated the contract. This was after Patch reported Sanford was under investigation in the Chicago Public schools. The head of Chicago's principals association said at a public meeting that Sanford had verbally abused more than 20 Chicago administrators. Sanford, an African American, was also said to have used the N-word around colleagues.

The contracts for Sanford and Behr both stated they were to report to the superintendent and associate superintendent. Both Sanford and Behr were considered independent contractors. And in both agreements, the parties were given the right to terminate at any time.

But the contracts differed in key ways. Under Sanford's, his number of hours and days were to be "mutually agreed to" by him and Superintendent Keisha Campbell. Behr was limited to 375 hours for the life of her contract.

Behr was mandated to complete a background investigation that is required of all public school employees. No such requirement was included in Sanford's agreement.

Neither consultant's agreement was posted on the district's website. Patch obtained both through a public records request.