District 113 taxpayers paid more than $16,000 for costs related to the district’s pursuit of the California superintendent who resigned amid controversy last month before beginning the job, according to school officials and documents obtained by the Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act.
That number includes a $1,700 trip made by two school board members in early January to the Marin County, Calif. school district where Laure Kimbrel works.
And it includes almost $6,900 in per diem pay for Kimbrel’s seven days spent in District 113, including the meet-and-greet receptions at Highland Park and Deerfield high schools, where she answered tough questions about her husband’s alleged online bullying.
That number does not include the search firm’s consulting fee, which is yet to be determined. But it does provide a glimpse into what has been a costly and, thus far, disappointing attempt to hire a new superintendent to lead Township High School District 113, a high-achieving district that’s had its share of turmoil for the past year or so.
Since Kimbrel’s resignation last month, some community members have decried the money spent. Interviewed recently, school board members said that, while the end result remains unfulfilled, the costs reflected the board’s “due diligence” in an educator they considered to be an exciting fit for the district.
“I don’t think we can say we learned any lessons,” said School Board President Marjie Sandlow, whose term expires in May, in a recent interview. “It just didn’t work out well.”
Hired in January, Kimbrel resigned in a letter to the District 113 school board on Feb. 25. Beyond her husband’s disparaging online comments to a California parent, there was also the separate matter of her own past affiliation with Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the search firm hired by District 113 to help fill the superintendent spot.
Last spring, Kimbrel had been brought on as an “associate” by the search firm to help with California searches, officials have said in past interviews. But she never received any compensation and ended that relationship once she applied for the District 113 job.
In an email, Kimbrel said on Friday that those two separate issues weren’t the reason for her resignation.
“I resigned because after working in the district for seven days, I determined I wanted to be released from my contract because it was not a fit for me personally or professionally,” Kimbrel said. “I(1)m grateful they let me out of my contract.”
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Asked why she didn’t disclose the two issues during the interview process, Kimbrel responded: “I never signed a contract with (Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates), I never did any work for them, and I never received compensation. I did not know about (my husband’s) social media postings at the time of my interviews.”
In early January, school board members Annette Lidawer and Julie Gordon flew to California for a site visit of Kimbrel in her district, Tamalpais Union High School District. They “flew coach” and stayed for one night at a Marriott Courtyard hotel, Gordon said.
The cost of $1721.25 covered airfare, parking, a rental car, lodging and meals, according to Tony Loizzi, the district’s director of human resources and administrative services.
The school board determined it was appropriate to pay for two school board members to make the trip, Gordon said, and that their terms should not be expiring in May for the sake of continuity after the April 7 election.
Loizzi said school board member David Small — who is running for reelection because his term is expiring — also made the trip but paid for his own expenses.
In separate interviews, both Gordon and Lidawer said the brief trip was a matter of due diligence and a crucial step in the hiring process.
While there, they visited with trustees, administrators, teachers, support staff and parents, the board members said. They asked questions about Kimbrel’s leadership and gauged how the responses matched up with what they had already learned through interviewing Kimbrel.
The board members flew home, they said, feeling confident in the decision to hire Kimbrel.
“One of the reasons this has all been so upsetting was, frankly, I was ecstatic (about hiring Kimbrel),” Lidawer said.
When Kimbrel came to the North Shore for receptions at the high schools, she didn’t shy from the controversy and answered tough questions directly.
Kimbrel was well compensated for her time, earning $6,867 in per diem pay for a total of seven days in the school district, including earlier visits for participation in interviews of the new high school principals and a professional institute day.
As per the terms of Kimbrel’s contract with the District 113, the board agreed to pay “reasonable travel expenses” for Kimbrel’s trips to Illinois to help with the administrative transition, as well as a per diem based on her 2015-2016 salary of $255,000.
As for why the school board went forward with the receptions, despite the emerging controversies, Sandlow said the district had not had time to conduct its own investigation.
“At that point, it was way, way too early,” Sandlow said. “She was here, and there were questions, but things were still moving forward.”
Other costs associated with Kimbrel’s recruitment and hire, included in the total of about $16,200, were about $1,100 in air travel costs, about $1,830 in hotel and car rental costs, $4,000 in advertising costs, and a $250 dinner for eight at Biaggi’s in Deerfield for Kimbrel’s final interview on December 17.
While it’s unlikely any of that money will be recovered, the school board could negotiate a lower consulting fee with the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, Sandlow said.
So far, Sandlow said, the district has paid the search firm about $36,000 of the agreed-upon $57,500 consulting fee to help fill four positions within the district: superintendent, director of student support services, and principals at Deerfield and Highland Park high schools.
Only the two principal positions have yet been filled. Once a director of student support services and an interim superintendent is hired, the school board will determine what the final payment to the search firm should be, Sandlow said, and then negotiate with the search firm.
District 113’s brief and costly relationship with Kimbrel wasn’t a waste. As proof, both Gordon and Lidawer pointed to the hire of two “phenomenal” principals: Tom Koulentes at Highland Park High and Christopher Dignam for Deerfield High.
“The principals are absolutely the silver lining,” Lidawer said, adding they will help find the right superintendent for District 113.
For next school year, District 113 will hire an interim superintendent, a decision based on the timing with the school board election looming and the end of the school year now in sight.
There will be more expenses until a permanent hire is made, but school officials say they won’t compromise on the quality.
“I’m disappointed it didn’t work out with Dr. Kimbrel,” Gordon said. “But I’m eager to move forward to find the next great superintendent to lead this district forward into the future.”
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