Sycamore superintendent contract focus of special board meeting Friday

The Sycamore Community School District 427 school board will have a special meeting Friday evening, but few details of the meeting are on the agenda.

The approval of an amended employment agreement for Superintendent Steve Wilder is the only item on the agenda, outside of the consent agenda, an executive session, a public comment period and opening remarks from school board president Michael DeVito.

DeVito – who became board president when tenured board president Jim Dombek died in August 2024, and went on to win a reelection campaign in April – said the meeting was “called to approve the bills payable for July, approve personnel changes and approve an amendment to the superintendent contract.”

Asked why the meeting was called for 6 p.m. on a Friday, DeVito said a number of factors influenced the decision.

“The meeting was dependent on a variety of time-sensitive items, and it was the soonest possible time we could host the meeting lawfully once we received the necessary information for action,” DeVito said in a text message.

The meeting will be held at 1947 Bethany Road in Sycamore, inside the former Nicor building, where the district moved its administrative offices.

The Sycamore school board approved the purchase of that building on May 28, 2024, the last meeting Dombek attended before his death. As a result, the school district has moved operations out of the former Central school building at 245 West Exchange St.

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DeVito said that’s why the board is holding the special meeting at the new administrative center for the first time.

“The new admin building was selected as the location given the closing of the prior administration building where the meeting would have otherwise been held,” DeVito said.

The special meeting will be open to the public and can be watched in person or live on the district’s YouTube channel.

Wilder did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the matter Thursday.

In a social media post made Thursday afternoon, Eric Jones, a former Sycamore board member who lost his reelection bid in April, said he thought the special meeting must be important based on its timing.

Jones told Shaw Local News Network on Thursday that he doesn’t think it’s unusual for school boards to have last-minute meetings at this time of year, but they’re usually to approve new hires for the soon-to-start school year.

“What makes this unusual is the timing on a Friday night and the fact that it involves modifications to a superintendent’s contract when that contract still has nearly a year left,” Jones wrote in an email.

The school board approved changes to Wilder’s contract during a June 24 meeting. Wilder is poised to make $239,362 for the 2025-26 contract year, a 4.9% increase over the previous school year, according to the amended contract.

Jones said he doesn’t think a change in salary would warrant a Friday evening meeting.

“Any innocuous change could easily be accomplished at a regular meeting in full view of the public vs. calling a special meeting like this,” Jones said. “We don’t know what has happened in recent meetings as none of those minutes have been made available for the public since the end of May, I believe, but it’s potentially very concerning as we head into the busiest time of year for the district.”