A dozen teachers and parents spoke out in support of Abraham Lincoln Elementary School Principal Cathy Hamilton at an Oak Park District 97 Board of Education meeting on Nov. 15. The teachers and parents urged the board to extend the longtime principal’s contract for another three years to ensure she’ll receive her full pension.
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Hamilton, whose colleagues say has served as the school’s leader for the past 15 years and on its staff for nearly the last three decades, applied for the state’s early retirement option in January 2013 and was slated to retire at the end of June next year, according to a letter sent to Lincoln families and staff by District 97 Superintendent Carol Kelley on Friday.
Kelly wrote that Hamilton’s request for early retirement was approved by the district’s board of education in February 2013.
The Teacher Retirement System’s ERO program expired in July of last year after the legislature did not extend the law. According to a bulletin from TRS, the last day a member of the retirement system could retire using ERO was June 30 of last year.
Several of Hamilton’s colleagues who spoke on her behalf at the meeting said that if she were to retire at the end of this school year as planned, she’d receive half of her pension.
Board members did not respond to comments from parents and Lincoln staff at their meeting. In her letter to Lincoln faculty and families, Kelley wrote “be assured that the board will take the time to review and consider all of the available information prior to making a final decision regarding this situation.”
“The board authorized the payment of retirement benefits for Ms. Hamilton over a four-year period that was based upon her decision to voluntarily retire from the district in June of 2017. These benefits included a requirement that her retirement in 2017 was ‘irrevocable’ and could not be rescinded,” Kelley wrote. She added that “the sunset of the ERO was common knowledge among members of the educational community here in Illinois.”
The board room during the meeting was packed with supporters of Hamilton, though she was not at the meeting.
Many staff members at Lincoln who spoke praised Hamilton’s leadership, her ability to adapt to changes in curriculum and administrative leadership in district all while supporting the elementary school’s teaching staff. All teachers and staff who spoke at the meeting urged the board to allow Hamilton to remain principal of Lincoln for an additional three years.
“[Hamilton] now needs to work for three more years in order to retire with her full pension. We teachers at Lincoln are wholly supportive of the board to grant her request to stay until 2020,” said Lincoln teacher Lynne Zillman.
Another teacher at Lincoln, Cynthia Wilson, said the longtime principal supported her through “a life-threatening illness.” Other faculty members shared similar stories of Hamilton’s support and consideration during personal struggles.
“You really must understand that Lincoln is a very special place. We consider it a family in every sense of the word,” Wilson told the board “I won’t say [Hamilton] is at the top because that implies she’s looking down. Instead, I will say she is next to because she stands side by side all of us.”
“I, along with everyone, was shocked to hear this news,” said Caroline Nikolakakis, a Lincoln parent and a teacher at Hatch Elementary School. Nikolakakis said she has a son at Lincoln and a daughter who will attend the school next year.
“It’s a travesty to think someone who has been of such service would have to take half a pension,” she said. “It makes me so emotional.” Nikolakakis said allowing Hamilton to finish out her career through the end of the 2019-20 school year is “the right thing to do.”
In an interview following the meeting, Lincoln PTO president Lisa Magnuson said she learned about the issue when she began helping to plan a retirement party for Hamilton. She said Hamilton told her she didn’t feel comfortable moving ahead with party plans because she was trying to extend her contract at the school after learning about the expiration of ERO. Magnuson told the board she’d like to see Hamilton finish out her career at the school and retire with a full pension. She said the comments she’s received from Lincoln families have “overwhelmingly” been in support of Hamilton and her desire to stay on as principal for another three years.
Oak Park resident Matthew Tushman said his son attends Lincoln and was forced to miss a lot of school last year due to medical problems. He said Hamilton “really was extraordinary just in how she handled everything.”
“When I heard this, I was just shocked. I’m not interested in all the financial details. I’m sure there are lots of issues to be worked out, but as a parent it’s not conceivable to me that because of our state, that makes so many horrible decisions, she would have to retire after such a phenomenal career.” he said. “Speaking for parents, many of them, I hope you would find a way to keep her as long as she wants to stay.”
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.