Will Co. (ECWd) –
In February of this year, we exposed what appeared to be politics as usual with an appointment to the District 210 board vacancy. What was unique about the exposure in this article was that that an e-mail prior to the appointment tied Board member Arvid Johnson to Chris Lucchetti, the now appointed board member at D210.
As we reported, Johnson’s ties to the District ran as deep as the water tables under Central. He was the Board president under the illustrious then-Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie. At the time of that reporting, Johnson was and still is the current President of the University of St. Francis in Joliet. At the time of that article the University of St. Francis still had Lawrence Wyllie, now exposed ex-superintendent of D210, as a trustee and we stated that was an utter embarrassment to that seemingly fine institution of higher education.
How interesting things work behind the scenes when matters such as this get exposed. From our first reporting on Lincoln-Way D210 in December of 2015, where we exposed half a billion in debt for a school with less than 8,000 students, we have now seen three board members at D210 resign. The most recent resignation April 28th from Arvid C. Johnson, citing personal family matters. Most would agree that his departure is a good thing considering many of the corrupted acts that took place by ex-superintendent Wyllie were done while Johnson was the Board President.
Johnson, however, did not step down as President of the University of St. Francis in Joliet, but it does appear some house cleaning took place at that institution. Lawrence Wyllie is no longer listed as a trustee of that University. One can only wonder what went on to lead to that departure but we suspect the negative image created by Wyllie’s past actions was a key contributor.
All things considered, the University of St. Francis may be wise to look for a new Board President as the optics are negative enough to give St. Francis a black eye with Johnson at the helm of that fine institution.
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6 Comments
Bill
Posted at 12:24h, 01 MayWiley just listed and sold his house in Frankfort. Sold the same day it was listed. Wonder who bought it? 210, Henry Brothers?
Bye Bye
Posted at 20:38h, 01 MayHe probably sold his house because the property taxes are too high! He knows the shitstorm he got LW into, he doesn’t want to be stuck paying those high taxes. He’s smart to get out.
Plus he couldn’t show his face in the LW area without a riot breaking out.
Bye Bye
Posted at 20:37h, 01 MayJohnson was another clueless rubber stamp for anything Wiley put out there. Never questioned anything, always praised Wiley as doing a great job. What a useless board member. Glad he’s gone. Saint Francis should dump him as well. The damage is already done, the association has been made. If Johnson did so poorly at LW, how can he be trusted at Saint Francis? Totally clueless.
Mary
Posted at 19:45h, 13 AprilHe isn’t trusted and never will be. He has proven that time and time again. Building buildings the school cannot afford and then eliminating positions to pay for them. Let’s face it: the board of trustees at USF has NO clue and NO balls. The board includes a beer truck driver; a nasty and shrill elderly woman married to a real estate developer, and various other mediocre individuals who have nothing to contribute. The board will never fire Arvid because it is all about them. They do not care about the school – they just want to say, “I’m on the board of the University of St. Francis.” And by the way?
“That fine institution” has totally devolved into a profoundly mediocre vocational school. The School of Nursing used to have a wait list a mile long and now they can’t even fill a class. What is wrong with this picture? Could it be…..Arvid??!
Bob
Posted at 06:27h, 03 May3 concerns. 1. LW in a half billion in debt? Come on, get the facts right. 2. Some one needs to look into Henry Brothers to see if they built Wylie’s house in Florida and who paid for it. Kickback for 225 million construction project? 3. St. Francis needs to separate themselves from clueless Johnson. What a joke he was for D210.
Kirk Allen
Posted at 07:09h, 03 MayFOIA all debt obligations, bonds, loans, tax anticipation loans and see what number you come up with. You will want to change your post when you get your information