Lots of questions on administrator's leave

I hope that I am not the only High School Dist. 214 taxpayer to be uncomfortable with handing out 40 weeks of paid medical leave to a Hersey High School (Arlington Heights) principal with zero accountability. This was reported in the June 30 piece on the planned leave/retirement of the administrator.

The administrator may well require the time away from the job, and I wish him the best. But in the private sector, medical leave (paid or unpaid) is reviewed and approved at regular intervals by a medical provider. When the worker is deemed well enough to perform his job, he must return.

In addition to this situation lacking checks and balances, other issues are bubbling to the surface as well:

How did this administrator accrue so much paid leave when he started with the district in 2020?

Will this become an expensive precedent as the previous Hersey principal took a year's leave and then retired, too? Perhaps we should consider giving all administrators the entire month of July off to recharge.

Karen Huelsman Klicki

Arlington Heights