Former Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie Dies
The 88-year-old leader of Lincoln-Way District 210 died this week, more than a year after fraud charges against him were dismissed.
By John Price ·
Lawrence Wyllie, the former superintendent of Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210, died on Sunday.
He was 88 years old and was staying at an assisted living facility in Naperville when he passed, according to the DuPage County Coroner. The specific cause of death has not been disclosed.
Wyllie served as superintendent for 24 years, beginning in 1989. At that time, the district consisted of a single high school in New Lenox and a freshman center in Frankfort. Over the next two decades, student enrollment in the New Lenox, Frankfort, Frankfort Square, Mokena, and Manhattan areas rose sharply. By 2005, Will County had grown by 19 percent in just five years, making it one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States.
District officials projected that 4,400 new students would arrive in the following decade. To accommodate this growth, they placed a $225 million bond measure on the ballot. Voters approved the measure, funding the construction of two new schools: Lincoln-Way North in Frankfort Square in 2008 and Lincoln-Way West in New Lenox in 2009.
The new facilities opened just as the housing market crashed and a recession began. The expected housing boom stalled, leaving the district with high construction costs and low revenue. By 2014, one year after Wyllie retired, the district faced a large deficit and had exhausted its cash reserves. The state of Illinois assigned the district its lowest possible financial rating and required the board to develop a recovery strategy. That plan included closing Lincoln-Way North after the 2016 graduation. The district was removed from the state’s financial watchlist in 2019.
Wyllie was indicted in 2017 on five counts of wire fraud and one count of embezzlement. The charges stemmed from his management of district finances following the bond referendum. Prosecutors alleged he used at least $80,000 for personal benefit and hid the district’s true financial state, which led to an additional $7 million in debt.
The legal case lasted nearly a decade. In June 2024, the charges were dropped. Wyllie’s attorneys argued that his ongoing medical issues prevented him from taking a meaningful part in his defense. The specific medical conditions were never made public. Because he was never convicted, Wyllie continued to receive his annual pension of $321,000 from the Teachers Retirement System of Illinois until his death.
Source: Shaw Local Lake County
