OP_041819

OPPrairie.com news
the orland park prairie | April 18, 2019 | 3
Orland School D135 Board of Education
Superintendent quitting in June but still on leave
Bill Jones, Editor
The Orland
School
District 135
Board of
Education
this week
accepted the
resignation DJ Skogsberg
of Superintendent
DJ Skogsberg, but
it does not take effect until
June 30, and he remains on
leave for unspecified reasons
and for an undetermined
length of time.
D135 School Board
President Laura Berry notified
parents of the resignation
in a letter that appears
to have been written the
evening of board’s April
8 regular meeting but sent
the next day by D135’s director
of communications,
Jen Obright. The School
Board voted 6-0 to accept
the resignation, with outgoing
Board Member Angie
Sexton absent.
In the letter, Berry noted
Assistant Superintendent
John Bryk, who has assumed
the duties of the
superintendent since Skogsberg’s
leave took effect
March 12, “will continue
to assume the duties and
responsibilities of the superintendent.”
Bryk said by email
Thursday, April 11, that
the district received notice
of Skogsberg’s resignation
the day of the board meeting,
and the reason provided
was “personal.” He
also confirmed Skogsberg
remained on leave.
The leave Skogsberg is
on was originally called
“unexpected” and for “undetermined
length of time”
when Berry originally announced
it in another letter
to parents.
Bryk, Obright and the
School Board have not
commented on whether
or not Skogsberg is getting
paid while on leave,
something not explicitly
addressed in his contract.
Bryk previously cited it as
a human resources issue in
declining to comment on
the salary.
“We don’t discuss employee
leave,” Bryk said at
that time.
Bryk said April 11 Skogsberg’s
resignation officially
terminates his superintendent
contract on
June 30, and he will not
be owed any type of severance
upon the departure.
Bryk also confirmed that
he is not receiving any additional
compensation to
fulfill Skogsberg’s duties
at this time.
Bryk added that Skogsberg
was not included by
name on the agenda for
the meeting because “at
the time the agenda was
posted, the district had not
received a letter of resignation
from the superintendent.”
The agenda had
named staff resignations,
as well as retirements and
notice of honorable dismissal,
and included “possible
action on employment
matters” following a
closed session.
Bryk said a superintendent
search has not been
initiated at this time.
Skogsberg, other administrators
and the D135
Board of Education have
come under the scrutiny
of the community they
serve in recent months,
after the board in February
approved changes to
its honors/enrichment programming,
among other
financial changes designed
to reduce a $2.5 million
annual deficit the district is
facing. Under pressure, the
School Board undid those
changes later in the month,
but budget problems and
conversations with the
community persist.
Skogsberg also is the
subject of a lawsuit filed
in March 2018 by teacher
Heather Conrad against
Orland School District
135, alleging sexual discrimination
on the part of
the superintendent. Conrad
said she was a denied
a promotion to principal
and removed from her position
as assistant principal
based on her sex, and in
retaliation for “rejecting
the unwanted advances” of
Skogsberg.
D135 formally answered
to the lawsuit in May 2018
by denying all of the key
allegations made by Conrad,
but the lawsuit reportedly
remains active.
Since the start of Skogsberg’s
leave, board
members have declined
to comment on it beyond
Berry’s letters. Skogsberg
could not be reached for
comment.
Orland Park Village Board
Officials examine spa regulation
options in wake of prostitution bust
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
After a recent prostitution
arrest at an Orland
Park massage therapy
business earlier this year,
the Village of Orland
Park’s Public Safety Committee
listened April 1 to a
possible code amendment,
designed to deter future
crimes from happening.
The code amendment
would require all future
massage businesses coming
into Orland Park to
provide at least one other
service that needs a professional
license issued by
the Illinois Department of
Financial & Professional
Regulation.
During the discussion,
Orland Park Police Chief
Tim McCarthy said that
over the past few years
there have been plenty of
stories involving human
trafficking.
“Over the past number
of years, we have seen the
same here in Orland Park,
where Asian women are
brought in and they are
used for prostitution in the
profession, so to speak,
of massage therapy,” he
said.
Orland Park police have
conducted four prostitution
stings at massage-only
businesses in the Village
over the past five years and
made 10 arrests. In Orland
Park, 23 businesses offer
massage therapy services
— 11 of which are massage
therapy only.
“It only happens in locations
that have massage
therapy only — and
no other specialty that is
regulated by the Illinois
Department of Professional
Regulation,” Mc-
Carthy said. “We had
one report here where the
Asian woman we arrested
had only been in the country
about two weeks prior
to our arrest, so it is obvious
what is going on here
that these women are being
brought here and used
for.”
The code amendment
would not affect businesses
currently in operation in
the Village.
Trustee Michael Carroll
wondered if there was a
less intrusive way of handling
the issue than potentially
denying massage
therapy-only businesses
moving forward. He asked
if there was a way to have
these businesses submit
State licensing identification
numbers at regular
intervals, or if requiring
more licenses from those
professionals who work at
Round It Up
A brief recap of action and discussion from the
April 1 Orland Park Village Board meeting
• During its meeting April 1, the Village Board
voted unanimously to approve the Orland Ridge
development as part of the Consent Agenda. The
mixed use development calls for 104 attached
dwelling units, 190 attached townhome units, a
clubhouse, a concept plan for a hotel, and retail
and commercial space.
• The Village Board also voted unanimously to
approve an agreement with AT&T to install small
cell technology within the Village’s rights of way.
The initial term is for five years with two additional
five-year renewals. AT&T will pay the Village $200
annually in rent.
• The Village Board also approved another
agreement with AT&T to install a small cell
application at the parking garage at the UChicago
Medicine - Orland Park. The initial term is for five
years with two additional five-year renewals, and
AT&T will pay the Village $270 annually in rent.
those businesses could be
solutions.
“It seems to me like we
are potentially going to
turn away some businesses
that are reputable in order
to attack the ones that are
not,” he said.
Please see village, 10