Plainfield School Board Extends Superintendent's Contract

The District 202 Board of Education on Monday voted to extend Superintendent Lane Abrell's contract another three years.

The new contract, effective Tuesday, lasts through the 2019-20 school year.

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The new pact will give him a 2.5 percent salary increase to $214,348 for the current school year. He'll receive another 3 percent raise in 2018-19, for a base pay of $220,778; and another 4 percent in 2019-20 -- bringing his salary to $229,609. In the final year of the new contract, he'll receive about $20,000 more than his current salary of $209,120.

“Under Dr. Abrell, the district has made advances in the areas of student achievement, finances, facility improvements, and community relations," board president Michelle Smith said in a news release. “His visibility in our schools and the community has been outstanding and we are pleased he will continue to serve District 202 in the role of superintendent."

District officials said his new contract is performance based and sets several key goals: continued improved academic achievement over the next three years; balanced budgets each year; starting the process to develop a new district strategic plan; and recommending and implementing attendance zone changes to balance district enrollments.

Abrell was hired as associate superintendent for the 2013-14 school year, serving as part of a transition phase alongside then-Superintendent John Harper. Abrell's pay during his first year was $168,000, which jumped to $205,000 in 2014 as he took the reins from the retiring Harper.

Abrell served as assistant principal at Plainfield High School - Central Campus from 1997 to 1999, when he was named principal. He left the district in 2006 before returning in 2013 and most recently served as superintendent of Leland Community Unit School District 1 in LaSalle County.

Patch file photo