D-219 Administrator Awarded Severance Package Worth Over $88,000

SKOKIE, IL — A Niles Township High School District 219 administrator was awarded severance payment worth nearly $90,000 after quitting just over nine months after a narrowly divided lame duck school board granted him a raise and a four-year contract extension.

Eric Trimberger resigned as the district's chief school business official assistant superintendent for business without explanation earlier this month. At a special meeting, the District 219 board voted to approve a resignation agreement and release granting him the severance package.

Trimberger, 52, joined the district in May 2014 with an annual salary of $140,000 a year after retiring from the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant commander in 2009. He previously spent about eight years as an assistant superintendent in Ridgeland School District 122 in Oak Lawn.

In addition to granting him a $88,649.92 severance payment and a lump sum equivalent to four months of COBRA health insurance continuation coverage, Trimberger's resignation agreement also resolves any potential legal claims he may bring commits him to assisting in future legal matters. It also includes non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses forbidding Trimberger and the district from publicly criticizing each other or disclosing the circumstances that led to his departure.

Superintendent Steve Isoye and board President David Ko declined to disclose any information about the reasons for the administrator's resignation, Pioneer Press reported, while Trimberger did not return calls seeking comment.

Trimberger's resignation was the only thing on the agenda at the school board's Feb. 6 special meeting. Members voted to approve the resignation agreement 4-0, with Rich Evonitz abstaining, according to the Skokie Review. Naema Abraham and Joe Nowik were absent. The district does not produce audio or video recordings of its special meetings, according to administrators.

Earlier: Divided Lame Duck School Board Approves Raise For Administrator

At an earlier special meeting on April 22, 2019 — a week before the expiration of the terms of former board members Mark Sproat, Linda Lampert and Brian Novak — the board voted 4-3 to grant Trimberger a four-year contract extension, even though Isoye had not recommended it. It also included a raise to a base salary of $221,559 with automatic annual 3-percent raises to total his compensation, which totaled nearly $279,900 for the 2018-29 school year.

Ko, Lampert, Sproat and Joseph Nowik voted in favor of granting Trimberger a contract extension. Board members Brian Novak and Naema Abraham joined Evonitz in opposing last year's contract extension.

At the time, Evonitz criticized the way the board handled the contract extension. The board "did not ask this employee's supervisor, the superintendent, for an evaluation of this employee's performance, nor for his resulting recommendation on the length of contract," he said. "In fact, we are proceeding on this action without the recommendation of the superintendent. Why is the majority ready to commit over $500,000 in compensation without an understanding of the employee's current performance?"

Trimberger did not submit a letter of resignation, according to administrators. The duties of the former assistant superintendent for business are being covered by temporary financial consultant Tim Neubauer at a cost of $800 per day.