District 159 Hires Departing Hinsdale Superintendent

MOKENA, IL - A west suburban superintendent who reached a settlement to leave his current district will join Mokena School District 159 as its next superintendent come July. Don White was voted out of his role by the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 board of education after errors were made in the publishing of a legal notice about a new middle school referendum. White was accused of not informing the board of education about the errors.

The Daily Southtown reports that the Mokena School District 159 unanimously approved White as its next superintendent, stating in a release that White was "forthcoming" about the situation in Hinsdale when asked about it during the interview process.

White has been at District 181 since 2014 and has been an administrator at a number of Illinois school districts since 1991.

It was a 4-2 vote by D-181 members earlier this year to approve the separation agreement, one that included a severance package. He will leave that district at the end of the current school year.

In Mokena, White will replace the departing Superintendent Omar Castillo. The District 159 board decided earlier this year not to extend Castillo's contract.

Photo via District 181