The shared services model used by Mundelein School Districts 75 and 120 has proven beneficial in many ways. It provides continuity and collaboration among staff from both districts, efficiencies in materials, supplies and skilled labor, and cost savings in administrative compensation.
In fact, a comparison of other Lake County districts shows just how Mundelein schools benefit from a deep administrative team at a much more efficient cost.
“The bottom line is the cost of administrators for both districts is substantially less than any other comparable school district in Lake County,” said Kevin Myers, Superintendent for Districts 75 and 120. “Yet we get the benefit of both our districts working together. That’s significant.”
When making such comparisons, it’s important to note that not all districts throughout Lake County look the same. Some are elementary districts, some are high school districts and some are unit districts (K-12). When comparing unit districts, the two Mundelein districts are combined.
While Mundelein has more administrators (15) than all but two high school districts, District 120 only pays for 8.25 (55 percent) of those administrators, putting it among the lowest in the county. The same holds true for elementary districts. In District 75, the total number of administrators is on the high end, but lower than all but one other district when considering that it pays for just 6.75 (45 percent) of the cost for those administrators.
The two Mundelein districts are right about in the middle of the list in the total amount spent on the top five administrative positions - Superintendent, Director of HR, Director of Teaching and Learning, Director of Student Services, and Director of Business Operations.
Mundelein’s two districts combined spend $1.076 million for those positions, seventh lowest among 13 Lake County districts. But Districts 75 and 120 each spend at the far low end of the scale. Elementary District 75 spends $480,184 on the five top administrators while MHS District 120 spends $586,892.
“There isn’t a school district that can match either of these for what our two districts are paying for the top five administrative positions,” Myers said. “We’re getting quite a value for the administrators we have in place.”
In both School Districts the savings is put back into programs that benefit students and student achievement. District 120 Board President Peter Rastrelli said the shared services model aligns the two districts in a unique way that benefits the students.
“When we have an opportunity to provide continuity to our students and that continuity can benefit them, we should do it,” Rastrelli said. “Shared services has provided D75 students a sense of familiarity as they enter the halls of Mundelein High School. That benefits not only our students but also our MHS staff.”
District 75 School Board President Kristie Fingerhut said the benefits are tangible.
“I would encourage anyone to look at this and highlight the increase in our District 75 literacy rates, test scores and everything else over the same time period that we’ve been doing shared services,” Fingerhut said. “That is not a coincidence. That’s the benefit.”