The new business manager for Homer School District 33C is a familiar face in the community and in local school finance circles.
Homer Glen resident John Reiniche was hired Tuesday as assistant superintendent for business, the same job he held for nearly nine years with Orland School District 135. He will be paid $148,000 annually and will also serve as school board treasurer.
Reiniche also held both roles with District 135 until he was ousted without explanation by a new school board in February 2014, with the district giving him a letter of recommendation and more than $75,000 in severance pay.
District 135 now splits most of those duties among a finance director, board treasurer and purchasing agent who collectively earn more than $220,000 a year.
Reiniche moves from Golf School District 67 in Morton Grove, which hired him as business manager in March 2014, to his hometown district.
“It’s exciting to be able to contribute to the community I live in and have a direct impact,” Reiniche said.
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District 33C Superintendent Kara Coglianese said Reiniche’s “impeccable experience and high recommendations” made him the clear choice from among about two dozen applicants.
Reiniche replaces longtime business manager John Lavelle, who recently was hired as assistant superintendent for business services at Orland Park-based Consolidated High School District 230.
“We appreciate your over 20 years of service,” school board president Barb Wilson said of Lavelle. “You will be missed by many.”
In addition to hiring Reiniche, the District 33C board also voted to appoint Craig Schoppe, principal of Butler School, to the new $102,000-a-year position of director of support services personnel.
Coglianese said the job merges what had been separate roles of supervising transport workers, such as bus drivers, and overseeing all other support staff.
The school board also signed off on a final payment of nearly $315,000 to complete a two-year, $7 million overhaul of Schilling School that nearly doubled the building’s classroom space, making it the district’s largest elementary school. Lavelle said the bulk of the work wrapped up months ago.
Patrick Guinane is a freelance reporter.