District 155

Dr. Johnnie Thomas joined Community High School District 155 in July 2012 as superintendent. Prior to assuming this leadership role, Thomas spent three years as associate superintendent for student services at the 13,000-student Township High School District 214 in Arlington Heights. There he helped elevate the district’s student support and achievement efforts at Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove, Hersey, Prospect, Rolling Meadows, and Wheeling high schools along with the district’s two alternative schools. Prior to this position, he served in various capacities with Valley View School District 365-U (Romeoville) and Chicago Public Schools.

Thomas is an advisory board member of the Loyola University School of Education, and a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, American Association of School Administrators, and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. He previously served as a board member for the Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education and as vice president of the DuPage Township Youth Taskforce board.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University, a Master of Social Work from Loyola University (Chicago), and a doctorate in educational leadership from DePaul University.  

Joe Murphy joined District 155 prior to the 2011-2012 school year. Previously, he served Lemont High School District 210 as business manager for three years and Community High School District 218 as assistant business manager and director of purchasing for five years. In his role at District 155, Murphy is responsible for directing all financial activities including establishing and tracking the district’s budget, overseeing cost reduction measures, improving financial processes, and assisting the board of education during the tax levy process.

Murphy has served as an elected official to his local school board and park board, and presently is chairman of the board of Moraine Valley Community College. Murphy boasts a strong background in the private sector including nearly 30 years in the commercial and financial industries and 15 years as a small business owner.

Joe Murphy has been honored as the Blue Island Chamber of Commerce “Man of the Year,” and is a past recipient of Illinois State University’s prestigious “E. Burton Mercier Service Award” for his community service efforts. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Illinois State University in 1982, and a master’s degree in school business management from Northern Illinois in 2006 and holds an Illinois Chief School Business Official Endorsement (Type 75). Joe and his wife, Rosemary, are the parents of three daughters: Jacqueline, Julianna, and Cara.

A graduate of Crystal Lake South High School, Erica Bruso returned to the district as the manager of accounting in 2011. Bruso, a Certified Public Accountant, previously worked for the accounting firm of Eder, Casella & Company where she was employed as an audit and tax supervisor for the past six years. Specializing in financial statement and grant audits for school districts, local governments, and non-profit organizations, Bruso was the lead auditor on more than 20 school district audits. She holds a bachelor of science in accountancy and a master’s of accounting science, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While at the U of I, Bruso made the Dean’s List every semester and was honored with the Lieby Hall Scholarship for achievement in business. She is one of only eleven Illinois recipients of the Excel Award for Outstanding Score on the Certified Public Accountant Examination in 2004, and is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honors Fraternity and the Illinois CPA Society.

The district's operations manager joined D155 in summer 2008 to manage the planning, operations, and evaluation of buildings and grounds, as well as oversee architectural work, district fee structures, and purchasing/contracting services and bid management. Jeff Carr joined the district from Special Education District of McHenry County (SEDOM), where he served as associate superintendent of business services. Prior to that position, he served Cary School District 26 as operations manager, and held various other supervisory positions throughout his career. Carr holds a bachelor of science degree from Illinois State University, a master's of education degree from Northern Illinois University, and a Type 75 Certificate for chief school business officials.

Since July 2007, Dr. Randy Davis has been responsible for coordinating employment of the district's more than 650 employees. Prior to becoming D155's director of human resources, Davis spent ten years in administration as a high school principal, associate principal, and dean of students. As a teacher, Davis taught English and social studies. He also has coached both football and track at the high school level, serving as both an assistant and head coach in track and assistant in football. Davis received his bachelors in communication studies from Northwestern University, his masters in educational administration from Northern Illinois University and his doctorate in educational leadership from National-Louis University. While at Northwestern, Davis was a member of the Wildcat football team.

George DiVenere joined the District 155 team in April 2009 as director of technology. DiVenere has a master's degree in information technology from Northwestern University, 15 years of IT leadership experience, and vast technical knowledge and experience. His professional experience from the corporate world is helping District 155 initiate best-practice solutions to modernize the district's infrastructure and enhance student learning.

Dr. Steven Koch joined District 155 in 2001 as a Prairie Ridge English teacher. He served as English department chairman from 2005 until 2008, when he assumed his current role as the district's director of staff development. Dr. Koch received both a BA in secondary English education with a minor in rhetoric and an MA in English literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has both an Educational Specialist degree and a Type 75 certification from Northern Illinois University. Koch earned his Educational Doctorate from NIU for his work concentrating on public school officials' authority over student cyberspeech. Koch's wife, Katie, is a member of Prairie Ridge High School's math faculty, and together they have three young children.

Mark Kovack is responsible for leading the district’s support programs, interventions, and services for students. This includes special education, guidance, alternative education, psychological, social work, and health/wellness services as related to the overall District 155 educational programming. Kovack joined District 155 in 2009 after serving as a classroom teacher and school administrator within Township High School District 211 at Schaumburg High School and William Fremd High School. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Western Illinois University, a master of science from Northern Illinois University, and a master of arts from Roosevelt University.

Scott Kubelka began serving Community High School District 155 as director of curriculum and assessment in the summer of 2005. Kubelka oversees all curriculum and assessment matters including, but not limited to, the development of curriculum maps and local common assessments. He holds a Northern Illinois University bachelor's degree in elementary education and a Northern Illinois University master's degree in educational administration. Prior to serving CHSD 155, Kubelka was an elementary principal and teacher

Jeff Puma joined the district in his current position in July 2006. Puma is a 1994 graduate of Crystal Lake Central High School. Prior to returning to the district as an employee, he worked in corporate-, executive-, and marketing-communications for Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc. and Siemens Corporation in Washington, D.C., Sacramento, Calif., and Buffalo Grove. While with Siemens, he assisted with media relations for the prestigious Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Science, Technology, and Mathematics. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame where he received a bachelor of arts degree in government & international studies, with a concentration in the Hesburgh Program in Public Service. While at Notre Dame, Puma earned a Varsity Monogram as a member of the Fighting Irish Track and Field team, and was honored as a BIG EAST Conference Academic All-Star. Prior to his employment with the district, Puma acted as a volunteer coach with the Crystal Lake South Gators track and field program.

Matt Timmerman serves as the district’s instructional technology coordinator. In this role, he liaises between information technology and the district’s 400-plus faculty members to implement, train, and support the integration of best-practice technology for the classroom. Timmerman assumed this role in July, 2011. Prior to this assignment, he served the district as teacher on special assignment for the past five years, assisting the curriculum office with various endeavors including tracking student achievement data, co-facilitating the District Achievement Team, and helping refine course curriculum maps. Matt joined District 155 in 1998 as a mathematics teacher at Prairie Ridge High School. He has also served Prairie Ridge as an instructional technology leader, and has coached both boys’ and girls’ tennis and basketball.  Timmerman is a 1994 graduate of Cary-Grove High School. He holds a master of arts in Curriculum and Instruction from North Central College, a Type 75 certification from Northern Illinois University, and a bachelor of science in mathematics from the University of Iowa. Timmerman’s wife, Lauren, is a graduate of Crystal Lake Central. Together they have three children.