CAT Tracks for February 28, 2004 EAST ST. LOUIS SCHOOL BATTLE

Things are heating up in another school district that is under the supervision of a Financial Oversight Panel...like CSD #1. Another "Cairo Connection" is that (at least until the end of this year) Nate Anderson is the current superintendent in East St. Louis. Anderson got his "start" as principal of Cairo High School "back in the day"...

E. St. Louis School Board chief gets boot

By Alexa Aguilar
Of the Post-Dispatch
02/26/2004

East St. Louis School Board President Lonzo Greenwood was booted off the East St. Louis School Board on Wednesday by the district's financial oversight panel.

The panel voted to remove Greenwood after finding that he had extended a three-year, $3.4 million contract with food giant Sodexho in 2002, without bringing the contract before the School Board or the oversight panel. When the School Board decided last year to put the food service contract out for bids, Greenwood produced the 2002 "letter of understanding," signed by Greenwood and representatives from Sodexho. When bids for the contract later came in, Sodexho was not the lowest bidder.

"This is an example of how poorly managed this district is internally," said Richard Mark, chairman of the oversight panel.

Greenwood "stepped over the line," Mark said.

Greenwood's replacement will be chosen by St. Clair County Regional Superintendent Rosella Wamser.

Greenwood could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The financial oversight panel recently held a hearing concerning Greenwood and the contract - a factor that could be important if there is a legal challenge to the panel's decision. The panel's attempt to remove the entire School Board in 1996 failed after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the panel must hold hearings and follow other due process procedures before it can remove a member.

Garrett Hoerner, the board's attorney, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Greenwood, who was elected to the School Board in November 1997, also is director of the city's tax-increment financing department. East St. Louis Mayor Carl Officer called for a federal investigation of those offices last year, saying that he has been approached by several people with "allegations of impropriety."

On Wednesday, district Superintendent Nate Anderson said he was "stunned" by the panel's decision to remove Greenwood.

"This is just a continuation in the battle for the top," Anderson said, referring to the contentious relationship between the School Board and oversight panel. Anderson recently submitted his resignation, effective at the end of the school year, citing the difficulty of working amid the struggles between the two entities.

Mark, an outspoken critic of the board, abstained from voting to remove Greenwood, because his role as chairman of the panel has come into question and he said he didn't want to jeopardize the validity of the vote. A new ethics law that took effect Feb. 1 prohibits registered lobbyists from serving on state boards and commissions. The attorney general is weighing whether Mark, a registered lobbyist, is ineligible.