Country Club Hills Elementary District 160 has chosen a schools administrator from northwest Illinois to be its new superintendent.
Duane Meighan, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at Freeport Elementary District 145, was tapped last month to lead the three-school district, District 160 announced on its website Friday.
A first-time superintendent, Meighan will become District 160’s fifth leader in the past 2 1/2 years when he starts July 1.
Earline Scott, who retired from the district in 2014 after spending six years at its helm, has served as interim superintendent since the board parted ways with its last permanent schools chief in October.
Meighan, who holds a doctorate in leadership and administration from Aurora University, had been working in Freeport since 2015, where he was responsible for developing curriculum and instructional services for students and professional development opportunities for staff at the nine-school, K-12 district.
Prior to that, he spent three years as director of teaching and learning at Arlington Heights School District 25, two years as curriculum director at Oak Park Elementary School District 97 and 13 years in various teaching and administrative roles at School District U-46 in the Elgin area.
Neither Meighan nor District 160 officials could be reached for comment on his appointment.
The district’s last permanent superintendent, Shannon Goodsell, left in October after just 16 months on the job.
Goodsell, an out-of-state hire who had led districts in Arizona and Oklahoma before coming to Country Club Hills, said his first year in the district was “probably the best year” of his 20-year career.
Things went downhill quickly in his second year, which Goodsell attributed to a shift in the school board’s direction following the April 2019 election.
He received 13 disciplinary write-ups over a three-month span and was placed on a professional development plan over what he claimed was retaliation for pushing back on board staffing directives he did not believe were in students’ best interest.
Board President Jacqueline Doss denied Goodsell’s claims, but has declined to elaborate on the board’s problems with his performance beyond pointing to his many write-ups.
The former superintendent entered into a mutual separation agreement with the district Oct. 15 and submitted a letter of resignation the same day, effective at the end of that month, records show.
He continued to receive his $175,000 salary through March 20, as well as a $13,451.60 lump sum for 20 unused vacation days, according to the terms of his separation agreement.
Scott, the interim superintendent who replaced Goodsell in October, is being paid $800 a day on an at-will basis for the remainder of the school year, according to her contract.
Meighan’s salary information was not immediately available.
The new superintendent is a married father of three who enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with family and friends, according to a district statement announcing his hire.
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He lives in the Freeport area, but plans to relocate to the south suburbs for his new job, the statement said.
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