Hinsdale D-86 Eyes Resignation Pact With Official

HINSDALE, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board plans to vote Thursday on a resignation agreement with an administrator who is leaving for a job with less pay.

Under his contract, Brad Verthein, assistant superintendent of student services, must pay the district $10,000 if he fails to give 90 days' notice.

The district won't say when Verthein submitted his letter of resignation. But his job wasn't advertised until two weeks ago, which was after the deadline to avoid the payment. It was only last week that Batavia School District 101 approved his hiring as director of student services.

He is taking his new job July 1. So to avoid the $10,000 charge, he would have needed to give his notice by the end of March.

However, a resignation agreement could potentially eliminate the payment requirement.

The district released its meeting agenda Tuesday afternoon. It included an item that read, "Approve Letter of Resignation and Agreement with Administrator." It did not indicate who the administrator was.

In an email Thursday, district spokesman Chris Jasculca confirmed the administrator was Verthein.

While some agenda items have backup documentation, the district did not provide the agreement. Jasculca said the district would release it after the meeting.

The contractual provision requiring the $10,000 payment is common among District 86 administrators. According to the district, the money is needed to compensate the district for its costs in replacing an administrator with late notice.

The situation involving Verthein was unusual in that the position was advertised before it was known publicly that he was leaving.

Asked about it earlier this month, Jasculca said in an email that the district had an "anticipated opening." He said Verthein was a finalist for a job in another district.

Verthein's salary in Batavia is set at $130,000, much less than the $162,000 he makes in District 86. Verthein has not returned messages for comment.

The district is portraying the situation positively.

In a statement Thursday, Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said Verthein is a "trusted and valued member of our team whose hard work and passionate commitment to education have had a positive impact on our schools and students."

Prentiss also had kind words in June 2020 after the board voted to accept the resignation of Domenico Maniscalco, the district's chief human resources officer.

"His hard work and dedicated service during his time in District 86 have had a profound and lasting impact on the success of our students, staff and schools," Prentiss said in a statement.

But things weren't so happy behind the scenes.

Four days after the board voted on his resignation, Maniscalco told Prentiss in an email that he would like to withdraw his resignation. He requested she forward that information to the school board.

In a June 23, 2020, text message to Maniscalco, Prentiss said she received an email from a Hinsdalean reporter about the email in which Maniscalco asked to rescind his resignation. The reporter wanted to confirm that the board was planning to honor Maniscalco's request that week, Prentiss said.

"I am unclear why you believe it is an agenda item for this week. As I shared last Friday — the (school board) had a special meeting last week and approved your resignation," Prentiss wrote, adding Maniscalco's employment was not an agenda item for the upcoming board meeting.

A part of Prentiss' text was redacted by the district. It resumes with the words, "You should not be representing the district."

Maniscalco responded, "I'm not representing the district in any capacity."

Maniscalco had already been away from his job for a few days before the June meeting, which was held for the sole purpose of accepting his resignation.

Under the agreement, Maniscalco was to resign Sept. 15, 2020. Records showed that he did not return.

It was unclear why Prentiss was concerned about Maniscalco representing the district, given that he was supposed to resign months later.