Hinsdale D86 May Hire 2 Interim Superintendents

HINSDALE, IL – Three superintendents have led Hinsdale High School District 86 in the last month and a half. On Thursday, the school board may add two more.

According to the board's meeting agenda, members plan to vote on hiring two interim superintendents at $1,300 per day for up to 120 work days.

Under state law, recipients of teacher pensions can only work in the state's public schools for up to 120 days in a year. Otherwise, they stop getting their pensions.

It is common for school districts to turn to retired administrators to serve as interim superintendents. In 2021, Elmhurst School District 205 tapped Linda Yonke, a former York High School principal who retired from another district, to lead for three months.

As recently as last week, members of the District 86 board apparently differed over the process of hiring an interim superintendent.

"A few members did not support the actions of the board members appointed to collaborate with the administration on this process, namely, that outside an open meeting, they identified and initiated a process not approved by the full board," member Kay Gallo said over the weekend on Facebook.

Following its tradition, the district is keeping secret the names of the likely interim superintendents before the meeting. But it is likely preparing a news release to post online moments after the vote.

In mid-May, the new board majority decided behind closed doors to suspend Superintendent Tammy Prentiss and name Chris Covino, assistant superintendent for academics, as the acting superintendent. (Whether the board can legally take such actions in a closed session is the subject of an attorney general's inquiry.)

By that time, Covino had already been hired to become superintendent of La Grange School District 102 as of July 1. On that day, Covino's replacement as assistant superintendent, Jason Markey, took the helm as acting superintendent. In late June, Prentiss and the board agreed on her departure, with Prentiss receiving her full salary of $277,000 for the next year.

The District 86 board said it will conduct a national search for a new superintendent.

The board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Hinsdale South High School library.