Hinsdale D86 Rushes Out Leader, But His Name Lingers

HINSDALE, IL – If you visit Hinsdale High School District 86's website, you could be forgiven for thinking that Michael Lach was still the superintendent.

In reality, he left nine days ago.

Yet the website still lists Lach as superintendent, including his photo and biography.

That's also the case with the Illinois Report Card website, which the state school board runs.

The delay contrasts with the school board's seeming rush to usher out Lach and install the new superintendent, Chip Pettit, who took the helm a week ago.

Pettit told Patch on Thursday that the district is in transition and that the website would be updated. (Shortly after this story appeared, the district did so.)

At its May 28 meeting, the board revealed its plan to put Lach on administrative leave starting June 3, nearly a month earlier than his planned June 30 departure.

A couple of days later, the board made known its plan to bring Lach as superintendent on June 4. He had planned to begin July 1, but left his superintendent's job weeks earlier than planned.

In February, board President Catherine Greenspon informed administrators that Lach would work remotely four days a week with limited duties. That arrangement was kept secret from the public until Patch reported on it more than two months later.

Since the board decided to hire Pettit in early February, the board has assigned him to handle key issues. As part of the transition, Pettit made $1,267 a day working on matters such as staffing and AI. He is still making that amount through June 30, when Lach's paid leave ends.