District 93 superintendent gets contract extension

Carol Stream Elementary District 93 Superintendent Bill Shields has received a contract extension that will keep him in his job until 2017.

The school district released a copy of the five-year contract extension last week that was formally approved by the school board in March.

Shields, hired as superintendent in 2008, is being paid a base salary of $185,000 in the current school year. He is due to receive $193,500 in 2013-14, $201,000 in 2014-15, $208,500 in 2015-16 and $216,000 in 2016-17, according to the agreement.

The contract establishes goals for Shields to accomplish in an effort to improve student academic performance:

Ÿ Improve student performance in reading and math by evaluating whether students who have been in the district for at least two years have met or exceeded goals developed in the strategic plan.

Ÿ Develop districtwide policies, processes and action plans to provide students the opportunity to grow and learn in a bullying-free environment. That includes full implementation of the recommendations of the district’s bullying task force by August, and implementation of a staff development plan.

Ÿ Apply for the Baldrige/Lincoln award in 2013-14 to demonstrate that “continuous improvement is embedded in the philosophy and culture of District 93.” The Baldrige criteria is a set of organizational performance excellence standards, and the Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence is a nonprofit group that assesses organizations on that criteria.

The school board and superintendent will meet at least twice a year to discuss the superintendent’s performance, according to the contract.

The contract states Shields has met the goals established in the first agreement signed on May 8, 2008.

Shields is eligible for an additional one-year contract extension for the 2017-18 school year that can be agreed upon on as of July 1, 2013.

Shields is given 30 vacation days a year and a $375 per month automobile allowance for travel within DuPage County. The school board will make contributions to his annuity plan — from $13,500 in the 2012-13 school year, with incremental increases each year, reaching $22,500 in 2016-17.

The school board unanimously approved the contract extension on Dec. 13, 2012, in open session following a closed session meeting of more than an hour. But the board was required to post the approval of the superintendent’s contract as an agenda item for its March 14 meeting, and revote, per Open Meetings Act rules, district officials said.

The agreement was approved retroactive to July 1, 2012, and runs through June 30, 2017.

Shields has held multiple administrative roles in District 93 since joining the district in 1990 as an administrator at Jay Stream Middle School.

District 93 encompasses eight schools with attendance boundaries in Carol Stream, Bloomingdale and Hanover Park.