Niles Township High School District 219 has placed its top two administrators on leave and hired a computer investigations consultant but would not say what prompted the moves, leaving questions about district leadership as students and teachers returned for the first day of school.
After a special meeting Monday night, the board of education released a statement saying that Superintendent Nanciann Gatta and Assistant Superintendent for Operations/Chief Legal Officer John Heintz had been placed on paid leave until further notice.
The board stated only that the leave, which it said was in agreement with Gatta and Heintz, was “due to differences” between the board and the administrators. The board declined to comment further.
“Due to confidential issues involved, the Board, Dr. Gatta and Mr. Heintz are not in a position to provide any additional information or comment at this time,” the board wrote.
In addition, the board hired the Chicago law firm Franczek Radelet as general counsel and appointed three consultants.
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The board hired 4Discovery, which performs computer forensic investigations such as recovery of digital records and information from mobile devices, as well as a financial accounting firm, Sikich LLP, and Mayer Brown of Chicago, one of the largest law firms in the world, to help the board review “particular employment-related matters.”
The board agreed to pay Franczek Radelet at a rate of $190 to $285; the forensic consulting firm up to $10,000 for IT services and $1,000 in related expenses; and the accounting firm up to $10,000 for auditing services and $1,000 for related expenses. It also agreed to retain Mayer Brown as outside legal counsel for $525 an hour.
Gatta makes more than $250,000 in base salary and $46,000 in benefits and compensation, according to district records.
A Tribune story in 2012 noted that both Gatta’s brother and husband, a fitness instructor, worked for the district, and ECRA-HYA, a firm founded by her father, also did business with the district. At the time, three school board members also had relatives on the payroll.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Gatta has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a doctoral degree in education from Loyola University, and has served as superintendent since 2008.
While Gatta is on leave, Anne Roloff, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, will take over day-to-day operations.
Lenny Nieves, field service director in the area for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said the change in leadership was surprising and particularly problematic just before the first day of school.
Gatta had been scheduled to speak to teachers Monday but didn’t. Teachers at the time thought nothing of it, Nieves said.
District 219 has three high schools and teaches about 4,800 students from Lincolnwood, Skokie, Morton Grove and Niles, with a budget of nearly $200 million.
The district’s board underwent a major shift in the April election. Voters threw out three longtime incumbents and replaced them with three new candidates from a slate that had links to the North Suburban Teachers Union. One of those newly elected board members, Mark Sproat, became the new president.
None of the board members responded to requests for comment on the top administrators’ leave.
Frank Sacks, a self-described independent candidate who lost his bid for election to the board in April, said the moves by the district support his criticism that the district was rife with managerial problems.
“It’s not one thing. The district’s a mess,” he said. “The old board rubber-stamped a lot of things. There were lots of red flags in spending and hiring.”
Earlier this year, Nieves said, the union and district agreed to extend their contract. There were differences over various managerial issues and outsourcing of staff, but nothing out of the ordinary, Nieves said.
In light of the changes, Nieves said, the union was scrambling to find out who was in charge of what.
“The start of the school year is difficult enough for everyone involved, then to have this disruption,” he said. “But all the union members will move forward to make it a success. It’s between the board and the administration.”
Robert McCoppin is a baiduhai reporter. Richard Ray is a news editor for the Pioneer Press.
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