Superintendent, Assistant Of Niles School District Placed On Paid Leave
(CBS) -- On the night before classes start, two high level administrators were placed on paid leave in Niles School District 219.
At Monday night's board meeting, it was announced that the superintendent and assistant superintendent are out, a bombshell considering the district's 4,800 students returned to school Tuesday.
After a special session Monday night, the Niles School District 219 Board of Education released a statement saying, "Due to differences between the Niles Township High School District 219 Board of Education and Superintendent, Dr. Nanciann Gatta, the Board and Dr. Gatta have agreed that she will take a paid leave until further notice."
The statement, also appearing on the district website, says the board and "John Heintz, Assistant Superintendent for Operations/Chief Legal Officer, have similarly agreed that Mr. Heintz will be on paid leave until further notice."
Frank Sacks, former Board of Education candidate back in April of 2015, says he thinks the district has numerous problems.
"Financial issues of overspending and I think there has been charges of nepotisim and croynism, so there's been a variety of issues," he said.
The statement also says the board approved hiring an outside law firm, an accounting firm and a forensic IT firm.
"It sounds very serious to me and that it appears they're going to be looking at computers and hard drives and things like that," Sacks said.
The board will only say it's "committed to working with Dr. Gatta and Mr. Heintz in a fair and comprehensive manner" and says its top priority is welcoming back students, who returned Tuesday.
Superintendent Gatta and Heinz earn in the neighborhood of $200K- $250K.
