Yorkville School District Y115 approves contracts for two interim superintendents

YORKVILLE – Two experienced school administrators will lead Yorkville School District 115 as interim superintendents for the next year.

The Yorkville School Board on June 12 approved one-year contracts for James Gay and Timothy Kilrea, both retired school superintendents.

The two men will oversee district operations while the board seeks a permanent replacement for Tim Shimp, who resigned as the district’s top administrator effective May 1.

Gay was superintendent of Consolidated High School District 230 in Orland Park and Palos Hills for 15 years before retiring two years ago.

A Naperville resident, Gay also served as principal of Andrew High School in Tinley Park and as principal of the De La Salle Institute in Chciago.

After retiring, he worked as a human resources administrator with the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora.

Kilrea served 12 years as superintendent of Lyons Township High School District 204, after two years as the district’s human resources director.

A resident of Frankfort, Kilrea started his career in education as a history teacher and chairman of the social studies department in the Lincoln-Way High School district in the south suburbs.

Kilrea later served as the assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Lincoln-Way East High School and then as principal of Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing before being promoted to assistant superintendent of the Thornton Fractional School District.

District 115 School Board members unanimously approved the contracts for Gay and Kilrea effective July 1.

“They bring in so much experience; we’re going to thrive,” board President Darren Crawford said.

Both said their roles will be to provide the school district with stability while continuing to make progress.

State regulations allow retired educators to work up to 100 days without compromising their pensions from the Teacher Retirement System. Legislation is now pending to increase that limit to 120 days.

The contracts for Gay and Kilrea provide for each to work up to 120 days, at a rate of $1,000 per day.

The two men said they will alternate days on the job, with each likely working two days one week and three the next.

One advantage the two men will have is that they already possess a working relationship, having served together on the Illinois High School District Organization, a group devoted to advancing the interests of high school districts.

Shimp resigned from the superintendent’s post to take a job in the private sector. He made the unexpected announcement at the April 24 board meeting.

The school board, itself about to undergo major personnel changes in the wake of the April 4 election, moved quickly to engage a search firm to find both an interim and permanent superintendent.

In a special meeting May 11, three days after four new board members were sworn into office, the board met with representatives of a search firm that had been hired by the previous board at another special session on May 5.

The district is paying Schaumburg-based Hazzard, Young, Attea and Associates a flat fee of $24,500 to perform both the interim and permanent superintendent searches.