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BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Wednesday, December 06, 2006 | (No comments posted.)
EAST CHICAGO | Gus Kouros may be gone from the East Chicago City Council, but he'll be a fixture at the city's schools for years to come.
Three days before the nine-term councilman resigned from the elected post last Friday, he received a two-year contract extension on his $72,000-a-year job as director of food service for the school district.
Kouros, 81, already had a contract through 2009. The extension means he'll work for the district until 2011, meeting minutes state.
"I've known Gus for a long time. He's doing the same job he's always done, and it's been satisfactory in the past," said school board Trustee Henry Gillis, who favored the extension.
The school board voted 3-2 on Nov. 28 to extend Kouros' contract. Three days later, he announced he would resign from City Council on Dec. 1, a month earlier than his original resignation date of Dec. 31.
City Democratic party Chairman Anthony Copeland said Kouros told him the change in dates was because he wanted to devote more time in December to family and travel, without the interruptions of city council business.
As the district's food service director, Kouros works 40 hours a week coordinating hot lunches for the district's 6,000 students and 10 schools.
School City Superintendent Juan Anaya could not say exactly why Kouros' contract was extended.
"It was not a recommendation of the administration," Anaya said.
Mayor George Pabey referred all comment on the matter to school city administration.
Gillis said Kouros paid him a personal visit at his home regarding the contract. The other four school trustees could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Asked whether the district might "buy out" Kouros' contract, Anaya said the district was in no financial shape to buy out anyone's employment contract.
At the same meeting in which the contract was approved, the trustees also received a resolution to sell tax anticipation warrants for next year, minutes of the meeting state. The warrants represent debt the school district has in terms of its operating expenses.
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