LT Superintendent Finalist Names Kept Secret

LA GRANGE, IL — In some places, the finalists for school superintendent positions are released to the public. That's apparently not the case in the Lyons Township High School District.

On Tuesday night, the school board is slated to name a new superintendent to start July 1, replacing Superintendent Tim Kilrea, according to the meeting agenda.

In states such as Wisconsin and New Mexico, school boards are required to release superintendent finalists' names upon request.

In Illinois, it's a choice. In most cases, Illinois school districts keep such information under wraps from the public. It's unclear why the Lyons Township board decided to do so. District officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

Last Wednesday, resident Jim Long filed a public records request for the names of the finalists for the superintendent's job. Under state law, the district has until Wednesday to respond. In an email to the board over the weekend, Long said it would be right for the board to release that information.

"Unfortunately, we have seen recent Superintendent selections occur at local elementary schools D105 and D106 without pre-contract introductions to the community and taxpayers, which ended with mysterious disappearances, interim Superintendents appointed, and the taxpayers fulfilling iron-clad contracts favoring the Superintendent," Long said in the email. "A cynical person may say it should be expected that taxpayers will always lose when an Executive Search Firm is paid handsomely and run by former Superintendents, but I remain hopeful that the LTHS Board of Education will put the LTHS community, taxpayers, and future BOE Members first this week."

Superintendent Kilrea announced his retirement in September. He started as human resources director in 2007 and has served as superintendent since 2009. He began his more than 35-year career as a history teacher.

Lyons Township has nearly 4,000 students and more than 250 teachers, according to the Illinois Report Card.