Raymond Lecher has been hired as co-interim superintendent in Libertyville Vernon Hills High School District 128.
Courtesy of District 128
Two veteran educators have been hired as interim superintendents to guide Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128 through the 2024-25 school year.
Rebecca Nelson has been hired as co-interim superintendent in Libertyville Vernon Hills High School District 128.
Raymond Lechner and Rebecca Nelson unanimously were approved by the school board Monday night to lead the district with the pending departure of Superintendent Denise Herrmann, who has been on paid administrative leave as a separation agreement is negotiated.
The district worked with professional organizations and its legal firm to find potential candidates. Finalists were interviewed by the school board during a three-hour closed session.
Lechner and Nelson have worked as a team on several interim assignments, most recently at Hinsdale Township High School District 86. The use of co-interim leaders by school districts is necessary because Illinois pension law limited superintendents to working 120 days per year after retirement.
Lechner was superintendent at Wilmette Public Schools District 30 from 2007 to 2019 and since retiring has been hired as an interim in District 86, Marquardt District 15, Bensenville District 2. Nelson was superintendent at Skokie District 69 from 2004 to 2008 and dean of the School of Education at North Park University from 2008 to 2021. Since retiring, she also has worked at districts 2 and 15.
They started Tuesday. Each will be paid $1,500 per day when working. They plan to alternate two and three days a week but will modify as needed, according to District 128.
In a message to the community, the school board said the veteran administrators have “a track record of success in supporting students, staff and the community while striving for operational excellence.”
A national search for a permanent superintendent to start July 1, 2025 is expected to begin this fall and will include input from parents, staff, students and community members, according to the message.
The selection comes just weeks before teachers report and school begins Aug. 12. Administrators have been scrambling to prepare for several initiatives including the Accelerated Placement Act and tiers of support for students.
Herrmann has been under fire for several months for a variety of reasons. School board meetings have been packed with calls for her dismissal and a vote of no-confidence cited a lack of leadership and an “environment of distrust and disrespect.”
Mending fences and creating a sense of community are district goals for the new year.
“To the board and administration, we look forward to rebuilding trust so that we can work with and depend on each other in order to serve our students,” Paul Karnstedt, teachers’ union secretary said during the union report Monday night.