D-15 Superintendent Signs 5-Year Deal, Gets Raise

Palatine Township Elementary District 15 approved a 5-year deal that includes a 1.5 percent pay increase for Superintendent Scott Thompson Wednesday night.

With the 1.5 percent raise Thompson will make about $224,000 this year. Future changes to the superintendent’s salary will be based on performance evaluations at the end of each school year, the Daily Herald reports.

The superintendent's new contract, which runs through the 2016-17 school year also includes a termination clause. According to the Daily Herald, if the school board decides to part ways with Thompson before his contract expires, at the very most, District 15 would be responsible to pay eight months of his yearly salary.

Thompson accepted the pay increase this year after his salary was frozen for about a year. , the District 15 school board unanimously approved a three-year contract extension for Thompson along with a At that time, the District stopped contributing to the Teachers’ Retirement System on behalf of Thompson, which was about $22,000. Instead, Thompson’s was combined with pension contributions for a salary of $220,000 to run through July 2014.  

After a few extensions and now a 5-year contract, it's clear District 15 wants to hold on to their leader but the termination clause was put in place to protect the district from the problems it has faced in the past.

Before Thompson came in to lead the district, superintendent on June 30, 2010. As part of the separation agreement, the district agreed to pay Lukich’s .