District 158 operations chief resigns

Glen Stewart has resigned his post as chief operations officer in Huntley Unit District 158, Superintendent John Burkey said Friday.

Burkey and school board members declined to comment on the reason for Stewart's departure.

Stewart is the third top official to resign his District 158 post this year. Jim Carlin resigned his seat on the school board in October and Stacie Talbert resigned as comptroller in December.

The district now has interim officers at two of its top administrative posts: finance and operations.

Technology Director Dave Jenkins will step in as interim operations chief for the rest of the school year -- and he'll have some help.

The district has hired Stewart as an independent contractor. Working off-site and earning an annual base salary of about $103,000 without benefits, Stewart will help Jenkins transition into his new role, Burkey said.

Stewart's resignation, his hiring as a contractor and Jenkins' promotion were finalized at Thursday's board meeting.

If the arrangement works out, Jenkins could stay on next year as chief operations officer, Burkey said.

"We want to make sure he's right for the job," Burkey said. If he is, "We would probably make (Jenkins) the permanent one."

Like his predecessor, who had not worked in school district operations before being hired, Jenkins, who is 35 years old and has never served as an operations chief, may face questions about his qualifications.

But Burkey said Jenkins has acquired a good grasp of operations during his eight years working in the district's technology department, which the chief operations officer oversees.

"He's very proactive. He's very organized. He's the kind of guy who can look at a big situation and find what needs to be done," Burkey said.

Along with his promotion, Jenkins will get a pay raise. He'll make $86,000 annually compared with his current salary of $82,000, Burkey said.

The superintendent said he won't hire a new technology director this year but that Jenkins and the technology staff will cover the vacancy.

If Jenkins' move to operations chief doesn't work out, he'll return to his post as technology director, a position he has held since 2006, Burkey said.

Jenkins and Stewart could not be reached for comment late Friday afternoon.

Before becoming operations chief in 2006, Stewart was a District 158 school board member.

Stewart's hiring sparked accusations of political patronage when Stewart moved from his board seat to one of the district's top administrative posts.

Stewart replaced Mike Kortemeyer, who resigned as assistant superintendent in March 2006.