Big Pension, Yet Burr Ridge D180 Pays Ex-Official

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge School District 180's longtime superintendent retired in mid-2023, but he didn't leave for good – he has a consulting gig.

Since he left in June 2023 after 17 years, former Superintendent Thomas Schneider has collected $53,200 from the district, according to public records obtained by Patch.

When he retired at age 57, Schneider was making a salary of just under $300,000. His pension is more than $220,000 a year, which is slated to rise to $254,000 in four years.

Under his consulting agreement, Schneider makes $800 a day. The records show he has worked 66½ days during his retirement.

The notations on Schneider's time sheets show that he has helped with some type of negotiations and taken part in board training for a trade group to which the district belongs.

Most of the time sheets include no notations on what Schneider was doing for the district. As of March, Schneider still had a district email account.

Messages to Schneider and the current superintendent, Charles Kyle, went unreturned. Upon Schneider's retirement, Kyle received a three-year contract with a $190,000 salary.

In August 2022, Patch reported on Schneider's business travel to destinations such as Las Vegas, New Orleans, Miami, San Diego, Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando. The 2½-year period included the two years before the pandemic and the first six months of 2022. (No business meetings were held during the pandemic.)

In all, Schneider logged two dozen trips to conferences, taking him out of the district for two months over the period examined. The travel cost taxpayers more than $30,000.

Nearly all the travel spending was part of the district's involvement in two groups – Federal Lands Impacted Schools Association and the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools.

The school gets money each year from the federal government – known as "Impact Aid" – because of the Argonne National Laboratory, part of which is within the district's boundaries.

Nearly 70 percent of the district's students are considered low-income, with many of them living in federally subsidized housing.

The district's enrollment dropped to 477 last school year, down from 618 six years ago, according to the Illinois Report Card.

Here are the timesheets that Patch obtained through a public records request:

• First set
• Second set