Schools chief taken for granted?
Fairmont superintendent says she deserves a cut of grants she secures, but you won't find this perk in other districts
LOCKPORT TOWNSHIP -- When Fairmont School District searches for a new superintendent this year, board President Joe Ryan won't pick someone who wants extra compensation for writing grants.
All of the grant money should go back to the students and the school district, he said.
Now, Fairmont Superintendent Doris Langon receives a 10 percent commission from the grants she gets for Fairmont's 301 students.
A Herald-News investigation found Langon received $83,572 in grant commission in the 2007-08 school year and $2,486 for the 2008-09 school year.
Not one of the other 40 school districts in Will and Grundy counties offers their superintendent this perk.
That incentive isn't something Ryan would have approved if he was on the board when Langon's contract was on the table.
And, he definitely isn't in favor of it for the next superintendent.
"If someone was to ask for that, they would probably not be the person we would be looking for," Ryan said.
In the 2006-07 school year, the school district received $527,247 from a Reading First grant and $308,468 from a Class Size Reduction grant for students in K-3.
Her cut of those grants was $83,572.
Reading First is a federal grant that supports early literacy for grades K-3. The district used the money to hire a coach, provide professional development and purchase instructional materials, Langon said.
With the Class Size Reduction grant, the district hired teachers to keep class sizes at less than 15 students per teacher in grades K-3. The district also used the money for professional development and additional instructional materials, Langon said.
In the 2008-09 school year, Fairmont received $14,860 from a Fresh Fruit and Vegetable state grant to give students fruits and vegetables during the school day. The district also received a $10,000 Math Symphony grant that gave students additional math strategies.
Her commission on those grants is $2,486
"They were competitive grants," she said. "It's not part of my contract to write grants, and other districts hire consultants to write grants, or they have staff to write grants."
Langon said she doesn't have a lot of people in her district office to help her. She has a part-time business manager, a part-time accountant and a secretary.
"I don't have an assistant superintendent or a curriculum person or positions like that. So it is part of my contract," she said of the commission for grant writing. "I'm a small district and a one-woman shop."
The changing of the guard has been significant, bringing representation from a new subdivision that is near a fairly poor community riddled with drugs, gangs and crime on Joliet's northeast side.
Ryan said the board has spent the last few months cleaning up school district policy and getting a new lawyer for the district.
Ryan ran for a board seat because he questioned past board decisions.
For example, if anyone was looking out for the taxpayers' dollars, they would have said no to the compensation perk, he said.
"I know what's right and I know what's wrong. I wouldn't have given her lifetime health care or $3,600 in car expenses," Ryan said.
When she retires in June, Langon and her husband will be able to receive 100 percent hospitalization, medical and dental coverage -- something Ryan wouldn't have approved.
The contract also states that these health care benefits will still apply even if Fairmont School District consolidates with another school district.
"It's written in the contract, so that's the way it is," Ryan said.
Bradley Johnson, vice president of the board, isn't happy with Langon's perks even though he was on the board when the contract was approved. He said he argued against it, but accidently voted for it because he thought they were voting on the principal's contract.
He doesn't believe she should get commission for the grants.
"She made a ton of money from our school," he said. "That's a lot of money, man."
Like Fairmont, the district received a Fresh Fruit and Vegetable grant.
"The grant was assembled by Food Services Coordinator Pam Smith and Little Learners Coordinator and Laraway Wellness Committee Chair Colleen Corbin," Hesbol wrote in an e-mail. "They completed their grant as part of their work and committee responsibility and received no compensation for their work."
The district has received about $573,000 for state and federal grants.
"There is no special compensation for the completion of any local, state, or federal grants," he wrote.
"District grants are completed by a team of individuals including the superintendent, my assistant/bookkeeper, and the staff members working in the program for which a grant is being developed, and other staff as necessary. We do not have a central office or associated staff to complete district grants," Hesbol wrote.
"I participate in the development of all grants reviewing, editing, and contributing to completion as necessary and am ultimately responsible for submitting them to the state and feds," he wrote.
