District Developments
News to Know related to D75 & D120
District Development - May
May 2025 Issue
Summer Trivia
What percentage of watermelons are made of water?
Scroll to the bottom to see the answer.
Shared Staff Spotlight
Tina Routledge, Director of Human Resources
Can you tell us a bit about your background? How many years have you been working in shared services?
I worked in corporate for several years before working at the school district. I worked for a Benefits & HR outsourcing company for a collective 12 years and 2 years for an insurance company. I was fortunate to be able to stay at home for 5 years with my kids as well. I have been a resident of Mundelein for 22 years. We have raised our 3 daughters here, all have gone through District 75 and our oldest two through District 120. I have been involved in the school community through the PTO, my church and Girl Scouting. I have been employed with District 75 for 7 years in Human Resources and most recently part of Shared Services for the last 1.5 years.
Describe your experience with implementing district-wide HR initiatives while accommodating the unique culture of individual schools.
The benefit of shared services is that I have been able to dive into the current tools we use for both districts. Although we are two separate districts, we use some of the same systems (ie; Frontline, SDS, etc..). Our department has been able to compare both districts and make process improvements to some of our current systems to enhance the end user experience. We have been able to save on resources as shared services by combining our districts such as our background check system, job fairs and other miscellaneous tools. We continue to review the systems and processes we have in place to make continuous improvements. Our next project is improving our onboarding experience for new hires.
We believe that at the heart of effective shared services is understanding the human experience across our district communities. Can you share how you've connected with staff at different levels across multiple schools to understand their unique challenges and aspirations?
I have worked with staff on many different levels and various situations. I recognize how limited time is during the workday for our educators, so I will make myself available to meet them at the building in their classroom. Our office works hard to make sure we put the "Human" in Human Resources. Myself and our team work closely with staff going through the biggest challenges or changes in their lives such as starting a new job with us (onboarding), life events (marriage, babies, divorce), health concerns, going back to school, medical leaves, offboarding (retirements and leaving), workplace conflicts, etc...My goal is to continue to make myself available to staff during these important life events as it helps me gain a better understanding of what the needs are of our staff.
Thank you Dr. Myers!
After many years of dedicated service to our districts, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to our retiring superintendent, Dr. Kevin Myers, for his extraordinary leadership and unwavering commitment to our students and Mundelein community. Throughout his tenure, Dr. Myers exemplified the true essence of servant leadership, consistently putting the needs of others before his own while courageously championing bold initiatives that supported our efforts in embracing our diversity and encouraging equitable practices across all of our systems. Dr. Myers' remarkable blend of kindness and strength, empathy and determination has created an environment where students have thrived and educators have flourished. As both a distributive and supportive leader, Dr. Myers has empowered countless individuals to reach their full potential, always maintaining his student-centered focus even in the face of challenging decisions. Dr. Myers' loyalty to our school community, combined with his tireless work ethic, has left an permanent mark on generations of learners. We celebrate not just the administrator, but the compassionate human being who touched so many lives through his genuine care and visionary leadership.
Leadership Quote
April Poll Results
With 63% of the vote, we highly recommend seeing Wicked if you haven't seen the Oscar nominated film yet. Spoiler alert - this is only part 1. The second part will be released November 21st, 2025 so make sure you see part one before the fall.
May Community Poll: Time to Garden
What are the easiest plants you're able to keep alive?
Answer:
92% water according to Mayo Clinic
