District 95 administrator takes new job in familiar location

Mary Kalou, assistant superintendent for business and operations in Lake Zurich Unit District 95, will leave her post to start a similar job in Maine Township High School District 207 on July 1.

Kalou will replace the retiring Pamela Schau as the assistant superintendent for business. The move is a sort of homecoming for Kalou, who worked in the district as director of accounting from 1993 to 1998.

"It's actually where I started my career several years ago. I knew a lot of people in the district and they asked me to apply," she said.

The last few weeks of Kalou's stay in District 95 will not be easy ones, as officials continue to grapple with a severe list of recommended budget cuts that affects every school in the district as well as the administration.

The board of education is scheduled to discuss a tentative budget at its June 11 meeting and adopt it June 25. The final budget will not be set until September.

Kalou has been a key figure in the process as the administration analyzed every possible way to cut $4 million from next year's budget.

The cuts are necessitated by a decrease in the Consumer Price Index from 4.1 to 0.1 percent. The CPI determines the increase the district can request in the property tax levy.

Kalou, who has been in her current position since 2007, said leaving will not take her away from CPI problems, though Maine Township has hefty cash reserves compared to many districts.

"(District 207), like a lot of people, are feeling the effects of the low CPI and what that means as far as funding programs," she said.

Before she moves on to her new job, Kalou said she hopes to help reinstate as many programs as possible with the money coming in from fundraisers in the community.

Several groups are working to raise the money necessary to save athletic, music and other programs by June 1, the deadline the board of education set for all donations.

For more information on how to make a donation, visit district95foundation.org.