After dismissing 2 top administrators, District 21 OKs superintendent’s reorganization plan
Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 school board members Thursday night approved Superintendent Michael Connolly’s administrative restructuring plan after the still-mysterious dismissal of two top lieutenants from his cabinet.
The board action formally eliminates the positions once held by Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Micheal DeBartolo and Assistant Superintendent of Support Services Kim Cline. Both were placed on administrative leave March 21, then told not to return and given severance April 16.
New records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by a parent and shared with the Daily Herald show the two administrators received bigger payouts than previously disclosed.
Under the severance clauses in their multiyear contracts, they are entitled to a full year’s salary.
Taking into account a 2% raise due to them July 1, paid holidays and days off, and employer-paid insurance premiums, DeBartolo received a $237,249 payout and Cline received $224,265.
District officials haven’t said why the administrators were let go, but denied the job actions were related to criminal or financial misconduct.
A third administrator who was placed on leave last month, Student Services Coordinator Melissa Mariconda, is being reassigned to a full-time teaching position for the 2025-26 school year.
Under the superintendent’s reorganization plan approved Thursday, Chief Academic Officer Beatrice Reyes Childress will be promoted to the new deputy superintendent position, and Chief Technology Officer Mike Frantini will become chief operating officer.
The duties of Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Bob Gurney, who was announced recently as the new superintendent of Mokena Elementary District 159, will be absorbed by a new, lower-level position: executive director of human resources. Lewis Roberts, principal of Gemini Middle School in Niles, was named to the new $175,000-a-year role.
Two other lower-level director roles were created. Sherri Massa will be the new director of student services and paid a $150,000 salary; she currently holds the same role in West Chicago Elementary District 33. Hiring for a director of technology services is underway. Both positions will report to Reyes Childress and Frantini, respectively.
Michael Zagar, the current director of business services, now becomes the district’s director of finance, chief school business official and treasurer.
Connolly said the realignment would bring about a more integrated and efficient operational model, create a clearer chain of command, reduce ambiguity in reporting lines, and promote quicker decision-making processes.
He added that the district would realize a reduction of $287,000 in overall salary costs.
“As we have grown, there have been layers of administration and leadership that have come into play,” Connolly said. “But now that we are at a point where we have some good, solid bedrock systems, I think it’s also now time to calibrate and begin to try and identify those areas where maybe we are a little top-heavy and/or a little too complicated in terms of how we are functioning as an organization.”
The school board also approved three new principal hires Thursday: Benjamin Neidich at Holmes Middle School, Emily Gary at Longfellow Elementary, and Lisa Applequist at Twain Elementary. Neidich will be paid $127,000; the elementary school principals will each make $117,000.
All the personnel changes take effect July 1.