Millburn District 24 leader named top superintendent
Dr. Jason Lind was awarded the 2020 LCS Superintendent of the Year Award by the Lake County Superintendents' Association.
Lind has served students for 23 years. He was a PE and health teacher in both private and public school settings, and he has served as a middle school athletic director, middle school dean of students, middle school assistant principal and principal of an EC-8 building, and has served in the role of superintendent at Millburn CCSD 24 for the past nine years.
During Lind's time at Millburn 24, he moved the district from a negative $5.6 million fund balance to a positive $1.3 million fund balance through a coordinated effort between the staff, board and community. The Millburn community passed an operating fund referendum in 2013 and the district tightened spending to a bare minimum in order to scratch back to a stable financial position.
Lind's notable achievements are working with the Millburn staff, who have worked tirelessly through difficult financial times to keep efforts focused on students and their well-being. The needed reductions were implemented in a manner that was the least disruptive to the students' overall school experience.
The Millburn middle school also revamped its schedule in 2017, allowing for greater choices in "specials" classes, additional fine arts offerings, and a foreign language option.
In addition, Millburn Middle School was also one of four schools in Lake County earning the "Exemplary" designation from ISBE for 2019.
During his tenure at Millburn 24, the school district has lowered class sizes from a district average of 31 to a district average of 23. The district has added full-day kindergarten, and Millburn hosts 12 classrooms from the Special Education District of Lake County.
Finally, Millburn boasts a community garden, where students can learn about plant growth and community members can come grow together.
When asked about the award, Lind said, "It is an honor to be recognized in any capacity by a group of colleagues that I hold in such high esteem such as those in Lake County. All my colleagues certainly deserve this recognition, and I am truly blessed to receive this honor."
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