The Premature Vote To Extend The Contract For Elmwood Park's School Superintendent
[Editor’s Note: During public comment at the Elmwood Park school board meeting on April 23, Damian Pereson-Estrada, a 2025 school board candidate, opposed the vote to extend Elmwood Park Superintendent Dr. Leah Gauthier’s contract. He was joined by one other resident who expressed similar concerns, and rather than consider their arguments for postponing the vote, the board unanimously pushed through the extension.
The following is commentary that was shared by Pereson-Estrada days after the vote. It is republished here as part of the Elmwood Park Advocate’s commitment to covering the school board. The next regular school board meeting is May 28 at Elmwood Park High School.]
By Damian Pereson-Estrada
While several topics were discussed and voted on at the school board meeting on April 23, perhaps the most notable was the approval of the school superintendent’s contract extension through the 2029–30 school year. This new contract begins next school year with a starting salary of $230,000 and a yearly increase of 2-6%, and if the common trend continues, it will be 4% in the coming years.
The current contract for Superintendent of Schools Dr. Leah Gauthier was not supposed to expire until the end of the 2026–27 school year. This extension effectively granted the superintendent an additional three years.
Before the board approved the new contract, I asked that the motion be tabled until next month—when two newly elected board members would be seated and able to contribute their voices and perspectives to this significant decision. Unfortunately, that request was not granted. [Video of the meeting available here.]
Over the past three years, the superintendent has received an annual 4% salary increase, even as the district faces ongoing challenges: declining educational quality, decreasing staff retention, rising concerns over student safety, persistent issues with transparency, and a continued lack of understanding and responsiveness to our diverse community.
The superintendent’s contract also includes a $250,000 life insurance policy—more than enough to cover her annual salary with money remaining. In comparison, the average teacher in our district earns an estimated $82,812 and receives a standard life insurance policy of only $50,000.
Teachers, who spend the most time directly educating and caring for our students, do not receive the same level of benefits or financial security for their families in the event of a tragedy. For reference, the starting salary for a teacher in our district is approximately $53,000—an amount still not fully covered by the standard life insurance policy.
In my remarks to the board, I further noted that the superintendent originally joined the district as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. During that time, she advocated for the implementation of standards-based grading, which was shown to disadvantage Elmwood Park students by lowering the standard of education and making parental awareness difficult and phased out at our middle and high school grade levels.
Additionally, under the current superintendent’s leadership, the district has experienced high turnover among administrators and staff, and a significant safety concern arose in 2023 when a student brought a loaded handgun to Elmwood Park High School. The incident prompted community members to call for changes in leadership, citing miscommunication and inadequate safety measures.
Furthermore, the district has faced declining Illinois Report Card ratings and ongoing issues with transparency and follow-through.
To be clear, this is not a commentary on the superintendent’s “worth” but rather a concern that this vote may have been rushed or premature—particularly in light of the upcoming changes to the board and the ongoing issues affecting the Elmwood Park district.
Many different factors could affect the quality of work over the next several years, and guaranteeing a contract until 2030 when the superintendent has presided over a decline in the quality of education is a matter of concern.