Dist. 46 to pay ex-board member $75,000 as consultant

Former Grayslake Elementary District 46 board member Michael Linder — who resigned his volunteer elected position in November — has been hired as a paid facilities engineering consultant.

Board members Wednesday night voted 4-2 in favor of hiring Linder to fill the consultant post. District 46 Superintendent Ellen Correll said $75,000 has been set aside in the operations-and-maintenance budget for the job.

Retired from a career of managing large corporate operations, Linder will bring his industrial engineering skills to the job. The 68-year-old Texas Tech University graduate will report to a district office to serve as the facilities engineer consultant.

Correll said Linder will be an independent contractor, so he won’t receive benefits from District 46. She said neither the district nor Linder will pay into a state pension plan for public-sector employees.

“It’s a part-time (job),” Correll said via speakerphone because of an out-of-town family emergency that didn’t allow her to attend Wednesday night’s meeting. “Part of the criteria is the contractor sets his or her own hours.”

Linder, elected to the District 46 board in 2007, resigned in November citing changes in his schedule. Under a one-year consulting contract, he’ll be involved with overseeing continuing projects districtwide and the 20-year facilities plan, along with reviewing and monitoring a budget.

District 46 board member Colleen Wade, who was appointed to replace Linder, said his expertise will be valuable and help to preserve expensive district buildings. Board member Ray Millington said the district would have been “penny-wise and pound-foolish” not to hire Linder.

Linder was not present at Wednesday’s meeting. He most recently was involved in plans to install air conditioning at Avon Center School in Round Lake Beach in his volunteer board member role.

Correll said the district could not continue with volunteer help for building engineering tasks. She said a paid worker can be held accountable, unlike volunteers.

Board members Keith Surroz, Karen Weinert, Millington and Wade voted for Linder. Board members Susan Facklam and Michael Carbone were against, although they stressed they didn’t question Linder’s abilities.

Carbone said he questioned how much of a cost-savings there will be with Linder as the facilities engineering consultant.