$54K Raise, 4-Year Contract For New Joliet Supt.?

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet Township High School Board of Education is ready to approve a $54,366 pay raise and a four-year contract to promote Karla (Narducci) Guseman from within as the new superintendent for District 204. Guseman will replace Mike Hanson, who is being ousted from Joliet only a half year into his new job as superintendent of schools.

Hanson had worked for 25 years in South Dakota's public education system. He was replacing Cheryl McCarthy, who spent her entire 33-year public education career with Joliet's District 204. Hanson had spent the past seven years as superintendent of the Hill City School District in South Dakota's Black Hills.

Now, in the middle of the 2019-20 school year, the District 204 School Board has relieved Hanson of his job duties. Hanson and the Joliet school board have agreed to part ways.

A special meeting has been called for 4 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 11, at the administration center, 300 Caterpillar Drive to approve a separation agreement with Hanson. The board will also vote on promoting Guseman to superintendent for the remainder of the school year and granting her a four-year contract to stay on as superintendent until at least July 1, 2024.

Guseman, who turns 44 next week, has spent her entire education career with Joliet Township District 204.

She worked for five years as a science teacher and then chose to climb the administration ladder. She has been District 204's assistant superintendent of education services since July 2011. In December, Joliet Patch reported that Guseman was the fourth highest paid employee in District 204, making a salary of $171,634 plus $41,239 in fringe benefits.

According to the proposed superintendent's contract, Guseman will get a immediate salary increase to $215,000, plus an extra $375 per month ($4,500 annually) as a travel allowance.

"The Board and the Assistant Superintendent have agreed that additional compensation should be awarded in recognition of the additional superintendent responsibilities the Assistant Superintendent is adding to her current job responsibilities,"her proposed contract reads. "Beginning February 12, 2020, the Assistant Superintendent shall receive a travel allowance of $375 per month, reflecting the increased use of her personal vehicle in the performance of various superintendent duties, prorated for the month of February 2020."

Then, Guseman will get another $11,000 bump in pay in less than five months. Her salary will climb to $226,000 starting July 1.

"Starting with the 2021-2022 contract year, and for each subsequent contract year, if the Board provides a salary increase to the administration, the Superintendent will be provided no less than the percentage increase that is given to the administrative staff," the contract reads.

Guseman will continue to receive the $4,500 annual stipend as a travel allowance, according to the terms of her four-year contract.

The proposed contract grants Guseman four weeks of annual paid vacation plus the ability to accrue up to 10 weeks, which is 50 work days, of unused vacation on the Joliet Township High School District 204 books. "At no time shall the superintendent ever have more than fifty accumulated vacation days," the document notes.

To read the entire four-year contract for Karla Guseman, go here.

RELATED: Joliet HS Superintendent Lasts 6 Months On Job

The current members of the seven-member District 204 school board are:

• Tracy Spesia, president, appointed in May 2011, tspesia@jths.org
• Frank Edmon Jr., vice president, appointed in June of 2017, fedmon@jths.org
• Meg Cappel, secretary, elected in April of 2017. mcappel@jths.org Cappel is currently running against Joliet City Councilman Larry Hug and Michael Crowner of Bolingbrook in the March 17 Democratic primary to fill the State Senate seat of Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, who is running for Will County Executive.
• Angel Contreras was elected in April of 2017. acontreras@jths.org
• Jim Allison was elected in April of 2019. jallison@jths.org
• Matthew Kennedy was elected in April of 2019. mkennedy@jths.org
• Michelle Stiff was elected in April of 2019. mstiff@jths.org