The trustees of the Lyons Township Treasurer of Schools Office, commonly known as the Lyons TTO, did not have to look far to find a replacement for board member Nickolas Kantas resigned from the board recently.
At a special meeting on July 15 the two remaining members of the board, Shakana Kirksey-Miller and board President Michael Thiessen chose former board member Michael Dickman to fill the vacancy.
Dickman, who works as a supervising administrative law judge for the state of Illinois, will serve at least until 2023. Dickman had just left the TTO board in May after serving a full six-year term. Dickman did not run for reelection in April.
Thiessen did not return a telephone call asking for comment about the choice of Dickman to replace Kantas on the board.
The TTO invests money and handles certain business services, such as printing checks, for school districts in Lyons Township.
Lyons Township High School, which is by far the biggest school district in Lyons Township, recently left the TTO after a ruling in a long-running lawsuit that the TTO had filed against LTHS.
The ruling awarded the TTO $764,789.33 in payments LTHS had deferred due to the ongoing lawsuit, but the judge rejected the TTO’s main claims that LTHS owed it millions in underpaid fees from 2000 through 2012.
The ruling also allowed LTHS to remove itself from the auspices of the TTO, something other school districts in Lyons Township might be interested in pursuing now that a precedent has been set.
Asked whether LaGrange-Brookfield School District 102, which serves the southwest quarter of Brookfield, might consider breaking with the TTO, Superintendent Kyle Schumacher hinted at such a possibility, telling the Landmark, “We want the option to make our own decision.”
