Tempers flared at Monday night’s Brookfield-Lyons Elementary School District 103 board meeting as supporters for Superintendent Dr. Raymond Lauk clashed with the few audience members who backed the board’s Sept. 27 decision not to renew Lauk’s contract.
After more than two hours of reading letters and taking citizen statements, board member Judith Petrucci made a motion to extend Lauk a new contract. It was defeated, however, 4-3.
Board President Joanne Schaeffer then announced that the board will meet next Thursday to begin the search for new superintendent. Lauk’s contract expires June 30, 2006.
“I’m disappointed,” Lauk said. “We have a talented staff throughout the district, and we’ve done a lot of hard work.
“If you look at every objective from test scores to finance, our results have been fantastic. But this has come down to power and local politics, and that’s the disappointing thing.”
While the majority of the standing-room only crowd at Home School in Stickney backed Lauk, there were a handful of letters written to the board supporting its decision. A number of those letters read out loud, however, were unsigned or the signed names weren’t legible to board secretary Gregory Frana.
After Frana finished reading those letters, Schaeffer, who was one of the four to vote against extending Lauk a new contract, tried to move the meeting along.
“There was other communication received,” said Petrucci, who was in favor of Lauk returning next year. “Why aren’t you reading those?”
Schaeffer said she had received other communications from 14 staff members, but didn’t have their permission to read them out loud. But moments later, Schaeffer handed those letters to Frana to be read.
“A decision not to renew Dr. Lauk’s contract is silly,” Joanne Jones said. “I feel it would be a great disservice to remove Dr. Lauk now, because our district needs a strong leader.”
Throughout the entire process, Lauk, who received a 5-percent pay raise from the board less than two months ago, sat calmly and listened.
The decision not to renew Lauk’s contract came on the same night Lauk presented the overwhelming positive district and school report cards.
“We put together a plan, and the staff worked hard to get these results,” Lauk said. “The board gave us the opportunity to do things, and we did them.”
After being below state standards on the Illinois State Achievement Test in 2003-04, the district’s overall test scores rose 7 percent in 2004-05 to 67.9 percent, and now stand three
percent above the state’s average of 64.9 percent. That increase comes despite the fact the district’s teacher salaries ($38,449) are 44 percent less than the state average ($55,558).
Although board member Stephen Mazur has publicly stated that a personality clash with Lauk had nothing to do the decision not to renew his contract, a number of staff members questioned that Monday.
Eyebrows were raised when Mazur and board member Deanna Huxhold laughed at times and failed to pay attention during Lauk’s presentation of the district’s report card.
While Lauk received a standing ovation at the end of the presentation, both Mazur and Huxhold were the lone two board members not to clap.
Former board member Roxanne Connolly also clashed with the board during the citizen statement session.
Connolly, who had to raise her voice to get Schaeffer to recognize her at one point, was a key supporter of Lauk when Mazur was found guilty by the board of intimidating district staff and Lauk earlier this year. A second complaint of intimidation was filed against Mazur in March, but was later dropped.
“The attitude of certain board members is very disappointing,” Connolly said. “They are making a big mistake by not renewing Dr. Lauk.”
