Who's Leading Hinsdale D86? Don't Check Website

HINSDALE, IL – The new Hinsdale High School District 86 board majority was determined to oust Superintendent Tammy Prentiss when it took office in early May.

Mission accomplished, but the district's website has lagged – a problem that officials blame on technical issues.

Thirteen days after it took office, the board suspended Prentiss and appointed Chris Covino, assistant superintendent for academics, as acting superintendent.

Yet Prentiss' photo and information remained on the website for more than a month, perhaps because the board had yet to make a final decision. Last Monday, the board voted for a severance pact with Prentiss. But her smiling picture still remained on the site for a few more days.

Late in the week, though, Covino's photo and information appeared on the superintendent's page. The trouble was, his last day was Friday.

On Saturday, he became the superintendent of La Grange School District 102, whose website lists him as superintendent.

But as of Wednesday morning, Covino was still listed on District 86's website as the acting superintendent, five days after he left.

Last week, the board appointed Jason Markey, the new assistant superintendent for academics, as the acting superintendent as of Saturday.

Yet Markey's name doesn't appear on the website yet, even though he is leading a district of about 4,000 students. By contrast, his name is already listed as the district's leader on the state's Illinois Report Card website.

In an email to Patch, district spokesman Chris Jasculca said the website problem applies to all new hires. The district has been working on the issue since the first of the month, he said.

"Every new hire is currently listed in our internal systems (e.g., employee portal, Active Directory, email, etc.)," he said. "However, there is a problem with our website provider that is preventing their system from syncing with ours. As a result, we have been unable to update the online directory on our website, which is an issue that many school districts deal with at the start of the fiscal year. We are currently working with them to resolve the problem."