District 113 Board Candidate, HPHS Principal Vacancy Announced

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The Township High School District 113 Board of Education held closed-door discussions Friday regarding candidates for a vacant board seat, a pair of interim superintendents, and the appointment of one of its principals to become an assistant superintendent. The district said it will reconvene Monday and possibly Wednesday without taking a formal vote until a special meeting scheduled for 8 a.m. on June 29.

The openings were triggered last month by the departure of superintendent Chris Dignam, who negotiated his resignation in May amid claims a toxic work environment under his leadership was hemorrhaging quality staff.

Board member David Small, a supporter of the embattled administrator, was not present at the May 22 special meeting that resulted in a 5-1 vote to accept a separation agreement showing Dignam the door. He said he would have voted against the agreement, which provides for Dignam to receive a $300,000 severance payment.

Small, who was elected twice to the board, submitted his resignation, effective June 1, writing:

Recently it has become clear that my views with regard to the strategic direction of the District and various other matters are at odds with the majority of the Board. At this time I think that it is best for the District and for the Board that a new Board member take my position. I am hopeful that the Board will appoint an experienced leader, with an independent perspective, who is committed to the success of all students.

After reviewing applications for Small's seat during a closed session meeting on Tuesday, the board came to a consensus decision to interview a single candidate, Ken Fishbain, in another closed session on Monday, the district announced.

Fishbain served on the District 113 Board between 2003 and 2011 and served as board president from 2009 to 2010. Current board members hope, if appointed, he will be able to get up to speed quickly. He is presently the vice president of business development for a privately-held practice of surgeons.

The board has decided to move ahead with two superintendents for the 2018-19 school year. Four candidates were selected for interviews out of more than a dozen applicants, according to the district. In the fall, the board will begin a complete selection process to find a new permanent superintendent.

A stakeholder advisory committee was appointed to participate in the final candidate interviews. It consists of six community members, six licensed staff, three support staff, one student and one assistant principal each from Deerfield and Highland Park high schools, according to Board President Elizabeth Garlovsky.

"We are excited about the committee and are grateful to everyone who has agreed to serve on such short notice," Garlovsky said.

At the board's June 11 meeting, Garlovsky responded to criticism voiced during public comment that the process of selecting temporary district leadership was being unnecessarily rushed ahead of the July 1 effective date of Dignam's official departure:

It's unfortunate and disappointing that some of you who stand before us as leaders and representatives of various stakeholder groups have already concluded that, and despite your lack of full knowledge due to the board's legal obligation to keep certain information confidential, that this board will fail to employ an adequate interim superintendent. We agree that the timing is not ideal, however the timing does not preclude us from completing a thorough search process...We value your voices and your opinions, but we're also ready to move forward and put the past behind us. We hope all of you can come around and join us in good faith using respectful discourse and open minds in our current search for an interim superintendent and eventually the search for a permanent one. However, the premature negative conclusions and combative attitudes that we've seen are not only unproductive, but they are setting a bad example for our students and the community at large, and not only that, they're not going to change our process. We will continue to operate unapologetically according to district policy and Illinois law.

As for the policy regarding filling the vacant board seat, board member Alena Laube motioned to modify the district policy on allowing open session discussion with candidates for the open seat. Board members Gail Byck, Michelle Culver, Stacey Meyer voted with Laube in favor of the changes. Debra Hymen and Garlovsky voted against.

"I don't see the downside to doing it in open session. I see the downside to doing it in closed session but I'm not sure what the downside is to doing open session interviews," Byck said. She suggested if someone was not ready to sit at the table and speak publicly it would be best to sooner rather than later. Laube agreed, motioning to conduct both open and closed session interviews for the replacement board member.

"I think especially in the current atmosphere it'd be really important for people to know who the finalists are and where they stand on certain issues," Laube said.

Culver favored the hybrid method, mixing open discussions with finalists with closed session discussions that had been used when choosing Byck to fill Julie Gordon’s seat on the board in December 2017. Hymen disagreed.

"The fact that you have the ability to hold it in open session, I think the fact that we are placing somebody on the board to work with us is the reason it is not so much an issue of transparency as it is somebody working with the six of us," Hymen said. "At some point policy and procedure and protocol has to start coming back to the table and has to start forming the way that we're going to move forward and it's not punitive, it's not meant to be punitive, it's meant to be structural."

Meyer pointed out the board policy does not even require interviews, which it describes as optional. The policy says the board "may" invite candidates for a vacant seat to interview in closed session after collecting applications from residents.

"Given where we are right now, I am comfortable doing the hybrid [of open and closed session discussions] again," Meyer said. "We have to get trust and to some extent is does go both ways... We would still have a closed session so that we could still do things in closed sessions and ask things that may not be as appropriate in open."

An interview with Fishbain was subsequently scheduled for 6 p.m. on June 25 and a public vote is scheduled for the regular board meeting July 9.

The district also announced June 22 that the board will soon vote to approve the appointment of Highland Park High School Principal Elizabeth Pérez Robertson to become assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment starting July 1, along with a contract for two years.

Robertson will carry on her principal duties until an interim principal for Highland Park High School is appointed for the 2018-19 year, according to the district. She plans to retire in June 2020.

She replaces Sandra Arreguin, who will begin her new job as assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at Niles Township High School District 219 the same day.

The district will post a job listing for an interim principal immediately, but it will not start looking for a new permanent head until it has appointed the next permanent superintendent.

Another vacant position, that of the equity coordinator, is expected to be filled shortly after a team of interim superintendents is officially hired.

The district said it hopes to have a new permanent superintendent and HPHS principal by the fall of 2019.

Related:

• D-113 Board Considers How To Fill Vacant Seat, Superintendent Job
• District 113 Pays $300K To Make Superintendent Go Away
• D-113 Set To Part Ways With Superintendent