U-46 to get seven new principals next year

Seven principals in Elgin Area School District U-46 will not be returning to their posts next school year, the district said Wednesday.

Elgin and Bartlett high schools will have new principals in the fall, as will Abbott Middle School and Heritage, Channing, Sycamore Trails and Hawk Hollow elementary schools, U-46 spokesman Tony Sanders said.

The district has already posted some of the positions and plans to have the posts filled by the start of the new school year, Sanders said.

The latest announcement was the departure of Channing Principal Ernest Gonzalez from the post he has held since July 2002.

Gonzalez took a personal leave of absence in February and recently notified the district he will extend his leave of absence through the end of the current school year.

Gonzalez, who held various administrative positions in U-46 before becoming Channing’s chief, has asked to be reassigned as a teacher in the fall — not necessarily at Channing, Sanders said.

“He would have to be assigned to a classroom he’s certified to teach,” Sanders said.

Parents were notified of the change on Tuesday.

Sanders said he could not comment on the reasons for Gonzalez’s leave of absence and reassignment request; Gonzalez could not be reached immediately for comment.

While on his leave of absence, Gonzalez will continue to receive his contractual salary and benefits, Sanders said. He will earn about $102,000 this year.

Greg Schneider, a former U-46 principal, has been serving as Channing’s interim leader and will serve out the remainder of the current school year.

Channing, located in Elgin, is the home of U-46’s dual language program. It was one of three elementary schools on a yearlong calendar, but that was scrapped at the beginning of this school year.

Abbott Middle School Principal Shelly Leonard-Hertzog, Hawk Hollow Principal Pamela Nabors Snoeck and Sycamore Trails Principal Melody Huisinga are retiring at the end of the current school year, Sanders said.

Jennifer Bond, principal of Heritage School in Streamwood, is leaving the building to become U-46’s director of instruction.

Bartlett Principal Kevin Skinkis and Elgin Principal David Smiley announced earlier this year they were leaving their posts. Skinkis has been hired as superintendent of Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208. Smiley is retiring.