Dist. 57 controversies settled in time for new school year

After almost a month on the job, things have been pretty quiet for Mount Prospect District 57 Superintendent Elaine Aumiller - and that's just fine with her.

"Thankfully, they're haven't been many front-burner issues this summer," said Aumiller, who started on July 1. "We've replaced roofs at Fairview and Lions Park and fixed some other minor maintenance issues, but that's about it. I'm sure there will be hot issues once school starts, but it's been quiet so far."

That's a stark contrast to the prior few months, when District 57 saw at least one major controversy a month.

First there was the unexplained firing of a popular Fairview School principal in March, followed by an April election that changed the entire makeup of the school board, with voters electing the four newcomers and removing the lone incumbent up for election.

A few weeks later, the board discovered Peggy Kaufmann, the district's newly hired superintendent, had hidden two DUI arrests from district officials.

Eventually, Kaufmann resigned and the school board admitted they didn't do enough to ensure a proper background check was done. Aumiller was hired a week later after passing a background check.

Later in May, the new school board rehired April Jordan as Fairview principal, reserving the earlier decision not to renew her contract for another two years. No official reason was ever given.

Aumiller said she had nothing to do with the Jordan situation.

"That was an action the new school board took during their first meeting," she said. "They simply reinstated her contract."

Before school starts, the school board will talk about the district's five-year capital improvement plan on Aug. 6 and 20. Part of that discussion will include Westbrook School's early-childhood program, Aumiller said.

School officials have talked about moving the district's first-graders to Westbrook to complete an earlier plan to turn it into an early childhood center. But that probably won't happen until 2010-11 at the earliest, Aumiller said.

She replaced Bruce Brown, who retired after seven years with District 57. Aumiller had been an assistant superintendent at Northbrook-Glenview Elementary District 30 since 2005. Before that, she was an associate principal at Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights.