Lawrence Wyllie arrives for his arraignment on federal fraud charges Sept. 27, 2017, at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago. A major credit rating agency has boosted its view of Lincoln-Way High School District 210’s financial health as the district continues its recovery from a spending spree that got it on the state’s financial watch list and resulted in the federal indictment of its former superintendent.
The district’s precarious financial situation prompted Moody’s to assign a “negative” outlook to the district, noting “lingering financial uncertainty” and a reliance on short-term borrowing to cover operating costs. Moody’s changed the outlook to “stable” in March 2018. The case against Wyllie dates to September 2017, and while he awaits possible trial, the 86-year-old Wyllie, who lives in Naperville, continues to collect a taxpayer funded pension that, in 2020, was more than $351,000, according to state records.In regular status reports filed by both sides, they have pointed out Wyllie, since August 2018, has experienced health issues described as “serious and ongoing.
Attorneys have said in past reports to the judge that they are working to get a better idea of how the case will proceed given Wyllie’s health problems.followed a yearlong investigation by the Daily Southtown that exposed questionable financial practices at Lincoln-Way, private uses of public resources and deals benefiting insiders, including
The district began eating up its cash reserves and, as Lincoln-Way’s finances atrophied, Wyllie fraudulently used bond funds to conceal the district’s true financial condition, prosecutors said in 2017.