Hinsdale school board chooses Oak Park based consulting firm to assist in superintendent search
The Hinsdale District 86 school board voted to approve a contract with School Exec Connect, an education consulting firm, to carry out a “national superintendent search.”
School Exec Connect has been operating out of Oak Park for nearly two decades, consulting schools across the US, but with a particular focus on Illinois and the Midwest, according to School Exec Connect President Kevin O’Mara.
“Every single search that we have ever done has been on time and within budget,” O’Mara said during the firm’s presentation to the board.
Documents from the district’s human resources department advising the search indicate that a full-time superintendent should begin work by July 1, 2024.
It has been a busy summer for the board, on May 25 the board appointed former Glenbrook North High School principal Jason Markey as assistant superintendent following the departure of Christopher Covino who left to become superintendent of La Grange District 102.
On July 20 the board hired Linda Yonke and Raymond Lechner as co-interim superintendents to serve out the remainder of the 2023-24 school year.
“Not once have we had a contract broken by any school board,” O’Mara said. In June District 86 all but severed ties with former superintendent Tammy Prentiss.
Prentiss and the school board agreed to an amended contract reducing Prentiss’s time with the district while paying out the remaining $277,470 of her yearly salary.
The contract also includes a nondisparagement clause stipulating neither Prentiss or the board’s members and employees may “intentionally place one another in a negative light.”
“There have been some stumbles especially recently,” O’Mara said referring to the board’s dealings with Prentiss. “But the right leader sees those challenges possible door openings.”
