Hinsdale High School District 86 Board members were poised to name Michael Lach as the new superintendent at a special meeting Wednesday night after The Hinsdalean went to press.
Approving a new superintendent contract for 2024-27 at a base salary of $255,000 was one of two action items on the agenda. No additional information was provided.
Lach’s name first appeared on an email sent Tuesday night announcing that a welcome reception for him will be held at 5 p.m. today, Jan. 11, in the Hinsdale Central library. The board meeting will follow at 6 p.m.
Tammy Prentiss, the district’s current superintendent, has been on paid leave leading up to her resignation in an agreement she reached with the board last spring. The district has been led by two interim superintendents, Ray Lechner and Linda Yonke, since July. Yonke resigned from the 120-day, $1,300-a-day job in December, without specifying a reason.
Lach has spent the last 4 1/2 years as assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment at Township High School District 113 under Superintendent Bruce Law, who was the top administrator in District 86 from 2013 to 2019. District 113 has two high schools, Deerfield and Highland Park.
Prior to joining District 113, Lach was director of STEM and strategic initiatives at The University of Chicago for almost eight years and special assistant for science, math, engineering and technology education for the U.S. Department of Education for two years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also spent four years at Chicago Public Schools and a year at Northwestern University.
He has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Carleton College, a master’s in teaching in science education from Columbia University and a doctorate in education leadership and administration from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Lach’s first day presumably would be July 1.
