Last week the Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208 board voted to hire a part-time replacement for departing business manager Chris Whelton, who is leaving the school July 1 to take an assistant superintendent position at Elmhurst Community School District 205.
On June 14 the school board voted unanimously to hire Tim McGinnis as the district’s new interim chief financial officer. McGinnis is currently the assistant superintendent for finance and operations for South Berwyn Elementary School District 100, a district that serves about 3,800 students.
McGinnis, 60, is retiring from that post at the end of June and will start at RBHS on July 1. He will work two or three days a week and be paid $65,000 a year. Whelton’s salary is $133,213.
McGinnis said that his precise work schedule has not been set and it will depend on the needs of the administration and school board.
“There isn’t any definite schedule at this point,” McGinnis told the Landmark last week. “It’s kind of an estimate. We’ll take it as it comes.”
McGinnis interviewed with incoming District 208 Superintendent Kevin Skinkis, who also will start on July 1, and then had a follow-up interview with school board members Mike Welch and Garry Gryczan.
Eight people applied for the position, Skinkis said last week.
McGinnis has worked for the South Berwyn district for 16 years. Before that he worked in private industry as a chief financial officer and plant comptroller for manufacturing companies. He is a certified public accountant.
McGinnis knows that he is walking into a tough position, as RBHS is dealing with a difficult financial situation and is the midst of making significant budget cuts.
“I think it is going to be challenging, no doubt about it,” McGinnis said.
McGinnis also said he has lot of experience negotiating contracts at South Berwyn.
“I’ve negotiated a lot of contracts,” McGinnis said. “We have three different unions that we deal with, and their contracts usually come up every three years, so I’ve virtually almost negotiated a contract every year.”
District 208’s contract with its teachers union expires in two years.
Whether McGinnis will be around to help negotiate that contract is unclear, but he said he is open to staying in the RBHS position for more than one year despite the interim title.
Last year, District 208 Interim Superintendent David Bonnette recommended that the school board hire a full-time superintendent and switch to a part-time business manager to save money.
McGinnis holds the chief school business official endorsement, which is required by state law for all chief business officials at Illinois schools, as does Skinkis.
