2 Abstain From Vote On New D-205 Official

Elmhurst IL

15 July, 2021

10:58 AM

Description

ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst school board approved the hiring of the school district's top technology official at its meeting Tuesday, but two members abstained. Rudy Gomez, who was hired at a salary of $140,000, has been the technology services supervisor at Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214 since 2014. That district has six high schools and nearly 12,000 students. Among other things, Gomez was credited with leading the program to assign each student an iPad. From 1999 to 2014, Gomez was the technology services supervisor for Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, according to his LinkedIn page. In Elmhurst School District 205, the board named Gomez as the district's executive director of technology. Board members Karen Stuefen and Chris Kocinski voted "present," which is effectively abstaining. Member Jim Collins was absent from the meeting. All the other members supported Gomez's hiring. Stuefen and Kocinski did not explain their decision to abstain. Earlier in the day, an anonymous person emailed the school board questioning whether the district should hire Gomez. The email was copied to Patch. In 2019, Stuefen and Collins abstained in the vote for Robert "RJ" Bialk as technology director. No explanations were given. Bialk resigned June 30. In an email to district officials, Bialk said he was leaving with a "heavy heart" and appreciated the opportunities and support from the district. He did not indicate his next career move. Bialk made $131,000 a year. He replaced Dave Smith.