Elected officials on the Community High School District 128 board appointed two new administrators to fill key roles within the district at a meeting held April 24.
Briant Kelly, athletic director for Libertyville High School, was promoted to associate superintendent for District 128 following the retirement of Al Fleming, effective July 1. Dan Stanley, currently the assistant superintendent for business at Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District 103, was tapped to serve as the district’s new assistant superintendent for finance. He will replace Yasmine Dada, who is also retiring effective July 1.
The appointments were made shortly before the board swore in two new members, Kevin Huber and Mackenzie Thurman, in addition to re-elected school board incumbents, president Pat Groody, Ellen Mauer and Karin Lundstedt.
Board members voted 5-0 in favor of the appointments. Stephen Arthur abstained from the vote due to the fact that he would be leaving the board, and board member Alex Delli Paoli, Jr. was absent from the meeting.
Kelly will receive an annual salary totaling $188,000 in his new position, and Stanley will receive $183,000 in annual salary compensation, according to Mary Todric, the district’s director of communications.
Several LHS parents spoke in support of Kelly’s promotion. Kevin Dickson, a member of the Libertyville Boys Club’s executive board, also voiced his organization’s support for Kelly’s appointment. He said the athletic director has consistently supported the youth football and cheerleading organization even though it’s not one of his job duties.
Lane Hasler, vice president for the Oak Grove School District 68 Board of Education, criticized the high school board for appointing both Kelly and Stanley prior to seating the two new board members. He also pointed to a “lack of transparency in the selection of these candidates” and urged the board to hold off on the appointments for another month. LHS parent Ana Draa echoed these concerns and also requested the board wait to officially hire the two new administrators.
Groody said his own re-election and the re-election of Mauer and Lundstedt meant that district voters “clearly reaffirmed their confidence in this board.” He said the current board had gone through “a thorough and detailed (hiring) process with administrators” and were therefore “the most informed people on this matter.”
“We have two very excellent candidates who are sitting there waiting for final approval and, frankly, held in limbo before that approval occurs,” Groody said. “I don’t see any reason why we should stall that until the next meeting.”
Superintendent Prentiss Lea, who recommended both candidates to the board, said Kelly was selected from among 17 applicants and Stanley was chosen from 25 applicants. He said administrators began parallel search processes for the two positions in early February.
Stanley has served as superintendent of business at District 103 since 2012, and previously worked as the human resources, business manager at Winthrop Harbor School District 1, according to a news release from the district. He has a bachelor’s degree in business management and accounts from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and a master’s degree in school business management and his chief school business official endorsement from Northern Illinois University.
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Stanley received high praise from his current boss, District 103 Superintendent Scott Warren, Lea said. According to Lea, Warren told him Stanley was able to bring that district’s business office “into a very organized structure where they could effectively serve the students and staff in the district.”
Kelly was hired as the LHS athletic director in 2007, according to a district news release. He first joined the high school as a math teacher in 2000 and also coached the boys track and basketball teams, according to the release.
Kelly received a bachelor’s degree in general engineering and a master’s degree in curriculum, technology and education reform from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in addition to a master’s in education administration from Northern Illinois University, according to the release. He also received his chief school business official endorsement in 2014.
Kelly has a “tremendous work ethic” and his “skill-set is a perfect match for this position,” Lea said.
The official vote comes a week after Kelly spoke about the transition from athletic director to a new administrator role.
“I’m very excited for the new educational challenges that the job will bring,” Kelly said after it was announced he would be promoted to the new position pending board approval. “I’m excited to be able to serve our students and our communities at both Libertyville High School and Vernon Hills High School in a new role.”
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. News-Sun reporter LaMond Pope contributed.