Anyone doubting what the strategy is over at Lyons-Brookfield School District 103 should have no more questions following the latest decisions made by the school board last week.
Lyons Village President Christopher Getty’s influence gained an even stronger foothold with the hiring of Ryan Grace as the district’s interim maintenance director, replacing Tom Sheehy, who was forced out after many years in that role.
Grace is the deputy building director of the village of Lyons and one of Getty’s political deputies. Grace served briefly as a Lyons trustee before being hired on as a village staffer and was at one time the chairman of the Citizen United Party, which is now chaired by Getty.
Village hall now has influence over a number of District 103 board members who are tied to village hall either directly or through relatives. The latest board member with ties to village hall is newly minted board member Kendra Pierce, who was chosen over experienced former board members and the district’s former longtime central office administrative assistant.
Her greatest qualification appears to be that her father-in-law is the village of Lyons’ director of planning and building.
Exactly what the long-term future holds for the maintenance department at District 103 remains to be seen. We can’t imagine that the influence of village hall that’s already been introduced will be pulled back. On the contrary, we expect the ties between the village and school district to become tighter and for school board members, whose families depend on village jobs and appointments, to walk in lockstep with the village president.
Jumping in
