Another meeting set to decide Prairie Crossing principal's future

Prairie Crossing Charter School board members will hold another special meeting to address the status of Principal Brian Greene, who's been on paid administrative leave for more than two weeks.

Board members will host the session at the Prairie Crossing campus in Grayslake at 7 p.m. Friday. The meeting was announced after the board emerged from a closed-door session about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

At the special meeting that spanned from Tuesday night to early Wednesday, board members were behind closed doors for more than five hours discussing Greene and another personnel matter.

Greene, 41, was invited into part of the board's closed session, then went to another room with two Prairie Crossing lawyers.

"I'm appreciative of the board bringing me in," Greene said in a brief interview after the meeting. "I appreciate them listening and the conversation that we had. And I'm still very hopeful that it will work out for the best for all the kids and the school."

Greene's paid leave was extended through Friday by a 9-0 board vote. Based on his $82,500 base salary on a one-year contract, Greene will have received $4,760 to not work at the small, public choice school since Nov. 29.

He has said he did nothing illegal or unethical before he was placed on leave. Greene has declined to identify the issue that led to his paid leave.

Prairie Crossing's board is expected to decide at some point whether Greene should be reinstated as principal or sacked.

In a letter to parents issued Nov. 29, Executive Director Nigel Whittington and the board said the reason for placing Greene on paid leave cannot be made public "due to the sensitive nature of personnel issues, labor laws and to protect Brian's privacy."

Greene came to Prairie Crossing from Bronzeville Lighthouse Charter School in Chicago for the 2008-09 academic year.

Bronzeville Lighthouse hired Greene after he departed as principal of Hawthorn Elementary North in Vernon Hills just before the 2007-08 school season began, citing personal reasons. Greene worked in Vernon Hills in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Prairie Crossing is an environmentally focused school with a 392-student capacity. Parents of children at Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50 and Fremont Elementary District 79 in the Mundelein area may send their children to Prairie Crossing, which determines enrollment by lottery.

Illinois' per-pupil financial aid follows Woodland and Fremont children who attend Prairie Crossing.