D-46 leader explains push for engineering consultant

Grayslake Elementary District 46’s superintendent says the savings should outweigh the costs if the district hires a consultant with expertise in building maintenance.

District 46’s boss, Ellen Correll, addressed the need for the facilities engineering consultant position at a recent meeting. She began seeking applicants via the district’s website Oct. 29.

Officials had been scheduled to vote Jan. 5 on Correll’s recommendation that former school board member Michael Linder be hired for the paid job. Linder served as an unpaid board member from April 2007 until Nov. 30.

However, Correll requested a postponement of the vote two days before the board meeting, saying she was not finished interviewing candidates for the position.

Some residents have publicly questioned whether hiring Linder would be appropriate given his status as a recent insider.

Correll said the time has come to have someone with engineering expertise to help oversee a system that includes seven schools and an administration building. The job is to oversee continuing projects districtwide and a 20-year facilities plan, along with reviewing and monitoring a budget.

In difficult budget times, said Correll, District 46 can’t afford to suddenly learn multiple roofing projects are needed or that contractors have performed subpar work on a structure. She said the consultant would look out for the district’s best interest.

“It really needs to be somebody who’s educated,” Correll said. “And we have great, great people working in our operations and maintenance (department), but we don’t have somebody who really understands the engineering part of it. We don’t want to get caught off guard with immediate projects.”

Board member Ray Millington has been among the elected officials who have volunteered to scrutinize building-related work. He provided an example of how the facilities engineering consultant could have been valuable in the past.

“We were up on the roof of the middle school looking at the air handlers and the first thing the architect said was, ‘We’re going to replace all of them,’” Millington said. “We started looking at the dates on them and it was obvious not all of them needed to be replaced. And that’s not a reflection they were trying to spend more money than they had to. They just didn’t have the same (financial) interest in mind that we did.”

Correll hasn’t said how much the engineering consultant would be paid. She said the contract would be covered with previously budgeted funds for an operations and maintenance employee who has departed.

Meanwhile, some District 46 residents raised concerns about the possible selection of Linder for the post.

Lennie Jarratt of Round Lake Beach, who periodically raises concerns about District 46 spending, questioned why Linder should return in a paid role if he had been providing his expertise for free until quitting the school board in November.

Retired from a career of managing large corporate operations, Linder, 68, has said he would bring his industrial engineering skills to the job if hired, but declined to address potential criticism. He’s a Texas Tech University graduate.

Correll steadfastly defended the intent to hire an engineering consultant.

“It’s going to save us,” she said. “I can guarantee you it’ll save us a lot of money. Sometimes, you have to spend money to save money.”