Retired Superintendents, Board Member Named To Lead District 113

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Two retired interim superintendents have been selected to lead Highland Park and Deerfield high schools, as the Township High School District 113 board is set to give final approval to one-year contracts with the administrators at a special meeting Friday morning. The board is also poised to appoint a former member to fill a vacant seat until elections in April and approve a new two-year contract with a principal promoted to assistant superintendent.

Former New Trier Township High School District 203 superintendent Linda Yonke and Ben Martindale, who was most recently chief education officer of North Chicago Community Unit School District 187, have been picked to lead the district. Each will be able to work up to 100 days or 500 hours while continuing to collect their pension benefits.

The co-interim superintendents will take over on July 2, a day after the district officially parts ways with Chris Dignam. According to the separation agreement the approved by the board last month, Dignam's resignation is effective June 30 and on July 30 he is due to receive a $300,000 severance payment. Dignam spent two years as District 113 chief. In February 2017, he received a raise to $250,000 annually plus benefits and a contract extension to 2021 after seeking a mid-year review from the board.

Yonke retired a year ago after 11 years as superintendent of New Trier High School District 203. Yonke began her 41 years in education as an English teacher at the high school and junior high level before becoming a principal at York High School in Elmhurst, Lake Central High School in St. John's, Indiana and Kankakee High School. She was the first woman to lead New Trier its 116 years of history, according to the district. Yonke departed as the highest paid superintendent in the state with a base salary of more than $365,000 in salary and benefits.

Martindale retired as superintendent of Gurnee School District 56 about 14 years ago and went on to assist troubled districts as a state-appointed administrator. He previously served in Round Lake District 116 and spent five years in charge of North Chicago District 187 after its previous administration was dissolved by the Illinois State Board of Education. He told the Lake County News-Sun in 2016 he planned to actually retire and spend time travelling and with his grandchildren.

The board appointed a stakeholder advisory committee to assist the board in selecting candidates for the post. President Elizabeth Garlovsky said the board planned to begin a search and selection process for a permanent superintendent in the fall. The board hopes to have a long-term replacement in place by July 1, 2019.

The first order of business at the June 29 special meeting is the appointment of Ken Fishbain to fill the seat vacated by David Small, who resigned following Dignam's departure noting that his views were "at odds with the majority of the board." Fishbain, the vice president of business development for a surgical practice, was a member of the board from 2003 to 2011 and served as its president from 2009 to 2010.

District 113 is also due to approve a two-year contract with Highland Park High School Elizabeth Pérez Robertson to become assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment starting July 1, a year after taking over from Principal Thomas Koulentes. Robertson had previously chaired the Deerfield High School World Languages Department and was assistant principal of HPHS from 2008 to 2011. Her education career began as a Spanish teacher at Niles West High School before becoming an administrator in District 219 and at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.

Related:

• District 113 Board Candidate, HPHS Principal Vacancy Announced
• D-113 Board Considers How To Fill Vacant Seat, Superintendent Job
• District 113 Pays $300K To Make Superintendent Go Away