Lincoln-Way High School District 210 is seeking input from community members as it looks to create a new long-term strategic plan that focuses on finances and curriculum and builds on the district’s prior road map.
Community members are asked to complete surveys and serve on committees as part of the process, with committees studying areas including finance and operations, curriculum, student outcomes and human resources.
The plan is meant to build on achievements from a prior five-year plan adopted in 2017.
Along with continuing on the path toward financial stability, that plan mapped out capital spending and improvements in enhancing curriculum to prepare students for college or careers after high school.
More information about the surveys and committee sign-ups is at the district’s website, www.lw210.org
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, and district residents are asked to respond by Dec. 1.Lincoln-Way primarily serves students from New Lenox, Frankfort, Mokena, Manhattan and Tinley Park.
The school district is being aided in the process by Robert Madonia, a retired superintendent of Frankfort Elementary District 157C who also serves as a consultant to the district.
For the 2017 plan, Madonia offered his services to Lincoln-Way at no charge, but for the new strategic plan is being paid $14,900 by the district for consulting help.
The committees are scheduled to meet Dec. 20 and 21 to discuss goals which will be incorporated into a strategic plan that will eventually be adopted by the district’s board of education.
“We believe the strategic planning process demonstrates the Board’s commitment to continuous improvement,” Aaron Janik, school board president, said in a news release. “It is with the help of our school community that we can continue to provide an excellent academic experience for the students of Lincoln-Way.”
A key goal of the prior plan was to stabilize district finances, which were in a tailspin after years of deficit spending and selling bonds to pay for building Lincoln-Way North in Frankfort and Lincoln-Way West in New Lenox.
The district has, over the last several years, worked to rebuild fund balances, which hit a low of just over $8 million in the district’s fiscal year 2016 but climbed to nearly $48 million by the end of fiscal 2022.
In 2015, the district landed on the Illinois State Board of Education’s financial watch list, indicating the state board’s concern about the district’s financial health. The following year, the district moved to close Lincoln-Way North to cut expenses.
In March 2019, the district was removed from the financial watch list and achieved higher marks from credit ratings agencies. That improved credit performance led to a sale last year of refunding bonds that stretched out the district’s repayment plan and reduced its annual debt service payments, easing the tax burden on district property owners.
The district’s financial straits ended up in the federal indictment in 2017 of former Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie, who retired in 2013 and is accused of misspending millions in bond proceeds and spending district funds on personal projects.
Ongoing health issues have delayed the case, which is scheduled up again for status in January.