At the end of Monday night’s meeting of the Evanston Township High School District 202 board, members approved the resignation of the school’s top two human resources officers effective June 30, 2022, quietly bringing an end to a months-long saga shrouded in mystery.
Chief Human Resource Officer Toya Campbell and her top assistant Yolanda Hardy were placed on paid administrative leave in October for reasons that remain unclear. In responding to previous requests for more information from the RoundTable, the district has said that it cannot comment on personnel matters.
On Tuesday, the RoundTable acquired copies of the separation and release agreements between the HR officials and the school board through a Freedom of Information Act request. According to those documents, Hardy has agreed to officially resign from her position at ETHS on June 30, while Campbell will retire as Chief HR Officer on the same day.
Both Campbell and Hardy will remain on paid administrative leave through the end of June, receiving their normal salary and benefits package “as if actively employed by the District,” their resignation agreements state. Additionally, they will still be able to use their district health care plan until the end of the calendar year.
Because Campbell is formally retiring from District 202, she will also receive “a lump sum payment in the amount of $116,057.37 no later than July 15, 2022.”
In December, the RoundTable reported that Campbell and Hardy were involved in an investigation last spring into complaints of misconduct against former color guard coach Lorenzo Medrano, who was arrested on child seduction charges in Indiana for his behavior at a different high school. Their investigation eventually cleared Medrano of wrongdoing, allowing him to return to coaching, although it remains unclear if their handling of that situation had anything to do with their leave of absence from ETHS this year.
Both Campbell and Hardy worked in human resources at ETHS for more than 17 years and also worked together at Peapod, the online grocery store, in the 1990s.
“I have truly enjoyed my tenure at ETHS and am proud of the contributions I have made and the leadership I have shown in bringing the district to the forefront of other high-performing school districts,” Campbell wrote in a retirement letter to the school board dated Jan. 24, 2022. “The strong connections I have developed with the staff are invaluable and are connections I will carry forward with me into the next phase of my life.”