LW210 Assistant Superintendent Agrees to Retire, Defends Performance Amidst Dispute

Lincoln-Way District 210 Assistant Superintendent of Business Ron Sawin on Wednesday ceded to retire two years early, as the longtime official and board found themselves mired in a dispute over his job performance.

As part of the agreement reached during a special meeting Wednesday, Sawin will retire effective April 30, and until then his job duties will shift into "alternative administrative duties" unrelated to the district's finances, Board President Dee Molinare said Thursday in a statement.

The agreement states there is "currently a dispute" between the district and the longtime official. Sawin "denies that his performance has been anything less than satisfactory and sufficient," the district said.

His current contract expires in June 2018, but under the agreement he waives all money owed to him for the last two years, and not to pursue legal action against the district.

The district also agreed "not to file charges for or to seek the termination of Sawin or to institute any disciplinary measures against Sawin" based on any acts to the board's current knowledge.

Sawin's early retirement announcement comes a week after the revelation of a driver's ed debacle in which the district will be required to issue refunds for students overcharged for driver's ed—to the tune of $300 per student, at a cost of $400,000 to the district.

Under a waiver issued by the state in 2010, the district had been permitted to charge $350 per student enrolled in the course. That waiver expired at the end of the 2014–2015. The Illinois State Board of Education emailed Superintendent Scott Tingley in May 2014 as a reminder. Tingley then forwarded that email to Sawin.

The district missed its Jan. 16, 2015 to renew the waiver, yet still charged $350 per student for the 2015–2016 school year. Without the waiver, students were to only have been charged $50, resulting in the pending disbursement of refunds.

The district is currently scrutinizing its accounting practices "to ensure the highest levels of integrity, effectiveness and accountability," Molinare said in a statement. "That work is ongoing and includes a thorough review to determine the optimal structure, staffing and administrative oversight of our financial operations moving forward."