W E D N E S D A Y
April 15, 2026 Vol. 46, No. 41
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JOURNAL @oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
Why D97’s new supt. left her last job Contributing Reporter
When Terri Bresnahan, the incoming Oak Park Elementary School District 97 superintendent, applied last fall to be the next superintendent at the Oak Park district she knew that she wouldn’t be at her current job as superintendent in northwest suburban District 59 next year no matter what happened in Oak Park. That’s because Bresnahan’s contract at District 59 was expiring July 1 and it was not going to be renewed. “It was sort of come to mutually,” said TR Johnson, president of District 59 school board, of the decision of the district and Bresnahan to part ways when her contract expired. “Everybody thought it would be best just kind of for the board’s vision for
A Special Advertising Section
Wellness and
Guide
Special section Page B1
Eviction notice posted at West Suburban’s River Forest campus
D97 board members say they knew about Bresnahan’s D59 departure By BOB SKOLNIK
Health
Spring 2026
TODD BANNOR
Incoming District 97 Superintendent Terri Bresnahan, flanked by Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman and community activist Kina Collins, speaks to students in the auditorium of Brooks Middle School on March 27. the future that we don’t renew her contract.” Bresnahan told District 59 families on Aug. 1, 2025 that this was going to be her last school year. “Earlier this summer, the Board of Education and I agreed on this transition to make way for the board’s vision for the district’s future,” Bresnahan wrote in her letter to District 59 families. On Jan. 28, one day before the District 97 townhall for Bresnahan and the other District 97 finalist Angela Dolezal, the District 59 school board voted to appoint Brett Galli-
Notice addressed to Manoj Prasad alleges more than $7 million in unpaid rent By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN and JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporters
ni, who was working in Houston, to succeed Bresnahan and held a reception for him. Bresnahan did not attend that brief school board meeting or reception. She also wasn’t at the Feb. 11 District 59 school board meeting because she was at a conference. Soon after the District 97 school board voted 5-0 on Feb. 24 to hire Bresnahan, who will not begin working full time for District 97 until July 1, District 59’s school board and Bresnahan wasted little time in parting ways. At its March 11 school board
An eviction notice was placed on an entryway to West Suburban Medical Center’s River Forest campus on Monday, Wednesday Journal has learned. The 5-day eviction notices were addressed to Resilience Health CEO Manoj Prasad and a Pipeline Health co-president from Ramco Holdings, the hospital’s landlord and part-owner. The notice alleged that there is more than $7.25 million in unpaid rent owed to Ramco for the River Forest property. The eviction note comes after hospital leaders closed both West Suburban Medical Center’s
See BRESNAHAN on page 16
See EVICTION NOTICE on page 9
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