After four hours of closed door discussions, the District 41 Board of Education approved a three-year contract extension for Superintendent Paul Gordon in a 4 to 3 vote.
Gordon’s contract extension, which includes a base salary of $195,000, was approved at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning. Board members Drew Ellis, Stephanie Clark and Kurt Buchholz opposed the extension, while Erica Nelson, Dean Elger, Patrick Escalante and Joe Bochenski supported the measure.
Buchholz and Clark, who have been outspoken critics of Gordon and the administration, opposed the contract extension due to their beliefs that Gordon has not met some of the goals established by his original contract, or the revised goals set forth last summer by the previous board.
One area the two criticized was academic accountability. They said there has been little to no growth in Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) on a year-to-year basis. During the Aug. 10 board meeting Clark shared several of the district’s data points with the board showing what she said was little to no measurable academic growth.
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The two also said they also hear a general dissatisfaction in the district administration from residents who share concerns with them.
“We believe that there is an overwhelming concern from the community and staff on the direction D41 is heading. While Dr. Gordon hasn’t made all the decisions, he has a hand in the path we are taking. There has been no survey of the staff or community since spring of 2014. Until this is done and concerns are captured and addressed, we can not move forward with a contract extension,” Clark said.
Buchholz said he and Clark have pledged to be a watchdog for taxpayers to make sure the district is living within its means and being good stewards of public money.
“We are going to have a very critical eye looking at every aspect of the district’ $53 million budget and how it is implemented and measured,” Buchholz said.
Joining Clark and Buchholz in opposing the contract extension was Ellis, who said he largely supports the administration, but had reservations about a three-year extension.
Gordon is in the second year of a three-year contract with an annual base salary of $195,000. Gordon came to the district in 2013 after serving three years as chief academic officer for the Adams 12 Five Star Schools, a K-12 public school district near Denver. He was also a middle school teacher, principal and executive director of schools for that district.
There was some question about Gordon’s Illinois educator’s license earlier this year due to state records showing his credentials were not up to date. Gordon, who came from Colorado to accept the position as chief of District 41, held a temporary teacher’s license, or Public Educator License. Gordon’s license had been listed as “deficient” on the Illinois State Board of Education website, but he had until July 1 to become compliant with Illinois law. Gordon received his PEL in May. Gordon said Colorado and Illinois do not have a reciprocal agreement on educators’ licenses, which is why he had to go through the Illinois licensing process.
Gordon earned a bachelor of arts degree from Metropolitan State University and a master of arts from the University of Phoenix, both in Denver. He earned his doctorate of education from Fielding Graduate University, which is in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Alex Keown is a freelance reporter.
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