A new slate took over the Huntley school board. Now more leadership changes are on the way.

Huntley Community School District 158 will be seeing leadership changes in the near future that could shape its long-term future while it looks for a permanent superintendent and seeks to fill a pivotal school board vacancy.

The superintendent search took a twist this week when the district decided not to hire a search firm and instead focus on whether to hire interim Superintendent Jessica Lombard for the permanent job. The district has yet to announce who might fill the vacancy left by the September resignation of Gina Galligar five months after she was elected.

According to an update sent out Tuesday, signed by board president Andy Bittman, two of the main district employee unions, the Huntley Education Association and Huntley Education Support Personnel Association, showed “overwhelming” support in a recent survey for Lombard to remain as superintendent.

As a result, “the board agreed to change course and temporarily suspend the superintendent search. Instead, the board’s next step will be to conduct a formal interview with Ms. Lombard,” according to the statement.

HEA President Bradley Aney could not immediately be reached for comment.

The superintendent search is happening amidst the school board vacancy. With an even split between old and new board factions, the appointee could tip the balance of the board either or be a swing vote.

The board interviewed applicants in a closed session Monday and plans to discuss the interviews in another closed session Nov. 2.

Nine community members have applied: Rich Bobby, Autumn Bozza, Jill Cataldo, Heather Hoffman, Stephen Lulofs, Andrew Martin, Kate Policheri, Charles Ruth and Dana Wiley.

At least one applicant has ties to the new faction.

Cataldo received a $7,500 payment in April for “campaign consulting” from the Defense of Freedom PAC, a Wisconsin-based political action committee, FEC records show.

The Defense of Freedom PAC has the same treasurer and address – a P.O. Box in Hudson, Wisconsin – as McHenry County Citizens for Lower Taxes, a political action committee that spent more than $3,800 to support the campaigns of Bittman, Galligar, Vice President Laura Murray and Michael Thompson in the April election, according to previous Northwest Herald reporting. The slate beat four incumbents to take control of the board.

Thomas Datwyler, who is listed as both president and treasurer of McHenry County Citizens for Lower Taxes PAC in Illinois State Board of Elections records, could not be reached for comment.

State records indicate the McHenry County Citizens for Lower Taxes PAC received $15,000 from Catalina for Congress, the campaign committee for Catalina Lauf, a former Republican candidate for Congress in Illinois. Lauf is listed as the “leadership PAC sponsor” for the Defense of Freedom PAC, according to FEC records.

McHenry County Citizens for Lower Taxes spent $15,000 from January to March 2023, records show. Many of the expenses were connected to the Huntley school board race, with payments to three of the four candidates from the new slate. Galligar was not listed as receiving payments in the reports. Cataldo was paid for “food” and “website,” according to the records.

Cataldo acknowledged working on the campaigns in her application letter to the school board, writing, “I want to assure you that I do not consider this involvement a conflict of interest, as my active participation in their campaigns concluded in April 2023.”

Community group Inspire158 confirmed to the Northwest Herald that its members filed a Freedom of Information request for school board applications. The Northwest Herald filed a separate FOIA request for those same documents, but has yet to receive them.

However, FEC records also show Ruth made contributions to Catalina for Congress. Ruth also has made political donations to the McHenry GOPAC and McHenry County Board Chairman Mike Buehler in the last couple of years.

Ruth told the Northwest Herald he didn’t have anything to with the school board campaign or the PAC.

Two applicants previously have run for the Huntley school board.

Kate Policheri ran for the school board last April and in 2021. Dana Wiley ran for the Huntley school board in 2021 and told the Northwest Herald in April she had no plans to run for school board again – however, she applied for the vacancy.

The Northwest Herald called numbers listed for all nine candidates but was only able to speak directly to Policheri, Hoffman and Ruth.

Hoffman and Policheri both said they were interviewed Monday.

Hoffman said the questions were “very neutral” and the interviewers asked all the candidates the same questions. She said some of the questions were about public finance and why applicants applied, among other topics.

Policheri said she has applied to be on the school board in the past, and Monday’s questions were similar to other interview questions she’s gotten while applying for the school board. She said she has run against all six members of the school board.

“The kids are what’s most important,” Policheri said.

Ruth said he served as school board president in the 1970s and said he applied “for the love of Huntley.”

The vacancy comes as the school board seeks to find a permanent superintendent following the departure of former schools chief Scott Rowe for Arlington Heights-based High School District 214, as previously reported by Shaw Local. The Huntley school board appointed Lombard as interim superintendent in May.

According to previous reporting, Lombard attended Huntley High School and began working in District 158 as an assistant principal at Leggee Elementary School in 2002. She has since served in multiple roles, being associate superintendent prior to her appointment as interim superintendent.

The school board heard presentations during an Oct. 19 board meeting from the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, as well as from the Illinois Association of School Boards.

Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates offered a price of $24,900 for its services, according to school board documents. IASB offered $10,400 for its services and $13,400 with optional services, including stakeholder focus groups.

Board member Anthony Quagliano said during the Oct. 19 board meeting that the district used Hazard and Young and had a “good experience” last time, but was torn between the two selections.

Director of Communications Denise Barr said the school board would be discussing next steps in the superintendent search at its next meeting Nov. 2.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed stark divisions within the District 158 community over concerns such as remote learning and masking. Bittman and Murray were among the parents at the time who sought the end to mandatory masking and who later were elected to the board.

Although the board is evenly split between two factions, Bittman said the board understands it is at a pivotal moment.

“We all take our roles seriously and understand the critical importance of the decisions that lie ahead,” Bittman wrote in Tuesday’s statement.