3 New Assistant Principal Hires - 1 Already Raising Questions
In District 135, one hire is raising eyebrows for more than just an Instagram post.
ORLAND PARK — When Orland School District 135’s Board of Education approved three new assistant principals at its July 14, 2025 meeting, most expected routine personnel matters — not controversy.
But just days later, a 2023 Instagram post from one of the new hires — now Assistant Principal Tremaine Harris — began circulating among parents. The post drew attention for its language and tone, and many families expressed frustration and concern.
For us, this isn’t about social media. It’s about how the hire was made — and why the public never got an explanation.
We understand why parents are upset about the post, but there appear to be even bigger gaps in how this hire was vetted, approved, and communicated. A public school leadership appointment should be based on clear qualifications and a transparent process — not silence, confusion, and post-hoc discovery.
The Appointments
The board approved the following assistant principals for the 2025–26 school year:
Amber Lokanc – High Point School
Megan Trovato – Meadow Ridge School
Tremaine Harris – Century Junior High School
[UPDATE] Only Megan Trovato received a public introduction with her qualifications that was audible in the recording. Amber Lokanc, a 16‑year D135 veteran, was not in attendance. Tremaine Harris, a newcomer to the district, may have had his résumé presented — but we can’t confirm, as the audio was muted during his introduction.
In the recording of the July 14, 2025 committee meeting (included below), audio is present until timestamp 0:26, when all microphones cut out. At 1:24, someone appears to attempt to restore sound — but it’s during this muted stretch that the board takes up introducing Tremaine Harris. Audio does not return until 2:10, just after his introduction concludes.
This may have been a technical error — an earlier speaker was also affected. However, in a district already criticized for removing public comment from meeting recordings, the timing raises concern. Unless another version of the recording exists, we will not know what was said during this period.
By the Numbers
All three candidates have completed graduate degrees that qualify them for administrative roles. Yet the least experienced candidate received the highest salary — and was hired into the only junior high position, despite the job posting requiring more teaching experience than he appears to have.
Salary Discrepancy and Job Requirements
The publicly posted job description for the Century Junior High assistant principal role listed a base salary of $90,000, plus a $2,500 annuity and full board-paid TRS/THIS retirement benefits (Job Listing).
In contrast, the Meadow Ridge AP posting offered a base salary of $85,000 with the same annuity and benefits (Job Listing).
Importantly, the Century posting also required “at least five years of successful teaching experience.”
Yet the person hired — Tremaine Harris — has approximately four years in the classroom, based on publicly available information.
No job posting for the High Point role was found, raising additional questions about how these positions were filled and how consistently qualifications were applied.
Does School Level Explain the Difference?
It’s true that Century Junior High serves grades 6–8, while Meadow Ridge and High Point serve grades 3–5. Junior high assistant principals may face more complex student behavior issues, extracurricular oversight, discipline loads, and scheduling challenges. That may help explain the $5,000 difference in base salary.
But even if the role at Century carries greater complexity, that doesn’t fully explain why the most inexperienced candidate was selected — or why the minimum posted experience requirement appears to have been waived. If higher pay was meant to attract a more seasoned leader, it’s unclear why someone with just four years of teaching experience was hired.
Without a transparent explanation from the board, the pay gap still raises concerns about how hiring decisions were made.
How Does This Compare Regionally?
While Illinois law requires only four years of teaching to obtain a principal endorsement (SIUE), hiring practices across the Chicago area set the bar significantly higher.
A 2022 study from NORC at the University of Chicago found that the median teaching experience for Chicago Public Schools principals was 8 to 9 years, and many had held additional leadership roles prior to administration (NORC Report).
Job postings for assistant principals in districts like CPS and Naperville commonly list 5 or more years of experience and expect prior experience in roles like instructional coach or department chair. For example, KIPP Chicago’s listing for SY25–26 specified experience with instructional leadership and 5+ years of classroom teaching (ZipRecruiter – KIPP Chicago).
iHire, a national education hiring site, reports that only 38 percent of assistant principal jobs in Illinois accept candidates with 2 to 4 years of experience. The majority prefer 4 to 6 or more (iHire Report).
So yes — Tremaine Harris meets the legal minimum. But by regional standards, his appointment to a high-profile junior high is a clear outlier.
Were the Resumes Even Reviewed?
No résumé or hiring summary was shared during the July 14 board meeting. No mention was made of candidate qualifications. If board members reviewed résumés or compared qualifications privately, the public wasn’t told. That lack of disclosure makes it difficult to evaluate how — or why — these decisions were made.
A Leadership Legacy Erased
The appointment followed the quiet departure of Principal Dr. Brian Horn and Assistant Principal Heather Conrad from Century Junior High. Families and others have expressed disappointment at the lack of communication surrounding these leadership changes. As with all meetings in District 135, public comments were not included in the archived video — meaning any remarks related to the departures are no longer visible in the official record.
This is not an isolated instance. The district routinely removes all public comment from meeting videos — an unusual practice that has drawn increasing concern from residents, especially as high-level decisions become more opaque.
Another Question of Pay Gap
Two women — one with 18 years of experience and two master’s degrees, the other with 20 years of experience and deep ties to the district — were hired into the same role as a man with four years of classroom experience and no documented leadership background. Yet he was paid $5,000 more.
It’s reasonable to ask whether the assistant principal role at Century Junior High is more demanding than those at High Point or Meadow Ridge. But even if it is, why wouldn’t experience level still be a central factor in the hiring decision — especially when the job description required it?
This isn’t just a question of optics. Under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, public employers must justify pay disparities when responsibilities and qualifications are comparable. If those gaps align more with gender than merit, the district could face serious legal and ethical exposure.
What Comes Next?
Until the district provides clarity, the community is left with questions that should have been addressed before the hiring vote ever took place:
What qualifications were considered for each candidate?
Did the board review résumés or compare experience before voting?
Why was the most inexperienced candidate given the highest salary — without explanation?
The school board may call a special meeting to review the social media post issue with its attorneys. If that happens, public comment will still be part of the agenda — even if the board later moves into closed session. Concerned parents should attend, speak, and be heard. The board may choose not to respond, but the community has every right to raise its voice — with civility, of course.
If no special meeting is scheduled, the next regular Board of Education meeting will take place on Monday, August 11, 2025, at Center School, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Thank you for reading another page in The OPen Record.