ROSCOE VILLAGE — As Lane Tech's Local School Council begins the process of searching for a replacement for outgoing principal Chris Dignam, the staff at the selective enrollment high school is divided over whether the next leader should be hired from within or not.
During the public participation portion of last week's council meeting, several Lane teachers urged the council to look no further than the school's pool of six assistant principals when it comes to choosing Dignam's successor.
"I encourage you to look within the administration," computer science teacher Daniel Law said.
Law's statement was echoed by both his computer science colleague Jeff Solin and representatives from the music and art departments.
They cited the implementation of technology into the everyday curriculum — band students are rehearsing off iPads instead of sheet music — and support for creative programs like robotics among the administration's accomplishments.
"The administration we have right now, it works," art teacher Amy Diamond said. "Someone coming in from the outside to Lane Tech ... that's a lot to take on."
But English teacher Kristen Starr painted a different picture.
"Teachers are subdued into silence" by administrators, she said.
She argued that as one of the top schools in the state, Lane Tech should cast a wide net for its next principal.
"The strength of our school is not limited to test scores and statistics. ... We need an educational leader," she said. "We need someone who's distinguished as an independent thinker."
Counselor Meredith Bantz asked simply that the council take her department into account when interviewing applicants for the principal job.
The department's staff was slashed after budget cuts in 2013, and as a result "our students are underserved," with remaining counselors struggling to provide both mental health and college/career services, Bantz said.
A single social worker serves the entire student body of more than 4,000 teens and the ratio of counselors to students is 1-to-450, well above guidelines that recommend one counselor for every 250 students, she said.
"I ask that the LSC support us ... that this is something on the radar as they look at candidates," Bantz concluded.
In February, Dignam announced he had accepted the principal job at suburban Deerfield High School. He had a year left on his four-year contract.
His open position has just been advertised, and the council doesn't expect to receive resumes until the first week in May, according to chairwoman Lisa Applebaum.
A special council meeting has been scheduled for 6 p.m. April 23 to discuss the principal selection process moving forward, including setting a calendar of key dates and developing the criteria to assess candidates.
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