District 15 superintendent retiring at end of school year
Palatine Township Elementary School District 15 Superintendent Laurie Heinz will retire at the end of the school year, ending a seven-year tenure highlighted by the passage of a $93 million referendum and successful negotiations with the Chicago Bears to settle a property-tax fight.
“The last seven years have been equally challenging and rewarding, but always focused on continuous improvement, building relationships, and doing what's best for the students we serve,” Heinz wrote in a letter to the school community Thursday.
Heinz became the district’s first female superintendent in 2019, hired from Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 to replace the retiring Scott Thompson. She previously served as assistant principal at the Palatine district’s Winston Campus from 1998 to 2002.
In her letter Thursday, she cited the success of the district’s Moving 15 Forward referendum in 2022 as a source of “immense pride.” The measure — approved by about 63% of voters — provided $93 million to pay for facility upgrades, the creation of an all-day kindergarten program and the replacement of junior highs with middle schools for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.
“We modernized our buildings, developed a long-term master facilities plan, redefined neighborhood schools, expanded the continuum of service from gifted through special education, enriched our curriculum, expanded dual language programming, updated libraries, and moved the needle on student achievement through goals set within our Strategic Plan,” she wrote.
Joined by superintendents from Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Northwest Suburban High School District 214, Heinz worked with Arlington Heights officials to craft a deal that settled a long-running property-tax dispute with the Bears over the former Arlington Park property.
The conflict threatened to derail the NFL team’s plans to build a new stadium on the 326-acre site, which sits within the borders of all three districts. Since the agreement, however, the franchise has renewed its focus on the suburbs as home to its next stadium, as well as a multibillion development surrounding it.
“We remain allied with our neighboring school districts as we continue to engage with the Chicago Bears and Village of Arlington Heights on proposed redevelopment efforts,” Heinz wrote Thursday.
The district’s board of education will begin work on finding the district’s next superintendent, and communicate its plans soon, Heinz wrote. That will include a survey seeking public input on what leadership qualities and priorities are most important.
District 15 is the second-largest elementary school district in the state, educating more than 11,000 students from all or parts of Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, South Barrington, Arlington Heights and Schaumburg.