Former Lincoln-Way Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie Dies At 88 After Fraud Case Was Dropped
Wyllie led District 210 for 24 years and was indicted in 2017 on charges tied to a $225 million bond referendum.
By Andrew Hayes ·
Lawrence Wyllie, who served as superintendent of Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 from 1989 through 2013, died Sunday in a Naperville assisted living facility. He was 88. The DuPage County Coroner's office confirmed his death and has not disclosed a cause.
Wyllie took the job when District 210 comprised a single high school in New Lenox and a freshman center in Frankfort. Population growth across New Lenox, Frankfort, Frankfort Square, Mokena and Manhattan pushed the district to expand capacity at Lincoln-Way East and then split it into a separate school in 2001. Will County grew 19% in the five years to 2005, and district officials projected 4,400 additional students over the following decade.
Voters approved a $225 million bond referendum to build two new schools. Lincoln-Way North opened in Frankfort Square in 2008 and Lincoln-Way West opened in New Lenox in 2009, just as the housing crash and recession curbed the enrollment growth the district had counted on. Construction spending consumed cash reserves, and by 2014, one year after Wyllie retired, District 210 operated at a deficit. Illinois assigned the district its lowest financial rating and required a remediation plan. The board closed Lincoln-Way North after its 2016 graduating class, and the state removed the district from its financial watchlist in 2019.
A Will County grand jury indicted Wyllie in 2017 on five counts of wire fraud and one count of embezzlement. Prosecutors alleged he directed at least $80,000 in district funds to personal use and concealed the district's true financial condition, adding $7 million in debt. The case ran for years and was dismissed in June 2024 after his attorneys argued that ongoing medical issues prevented him from participating in his defense. Those issues were never identified.
Because no conviction followed, Wyllie continued to draw an annual pension of $321,000 from the Teachers Retirement System of Illinois through his death.
A spokesperson for the district declined to comment. Funeral arrangements had not been announced by Friday.
