Dan Hunt has replaced Jeff Miller as the president of the Riverside Elementary District 96 Board of Education after Miller decided that four years was long enough to serve in that role.
“It does require more time and more attention to be the board president, and I felt like I could devote the time and attention the last four years, but I wasn’t sure I could do it for another two years,” Miller said.
At the board’s biennial reorganization meeting on April 30, new board member Wesley Muirhead was sworn in and board member Rich Regan said his goodbye.
Lynda Murphy and Shari Klyber were also sworn in for their second four-year terms alongside Muirhead. They were the only three candidates for the three board seats at stake on April 2.
Regan chose not to run for another term and is leaving the board after five and a half years to serve on the Triton College board. That race also was not contested this spring.
Hunt, an IT project manager, was elected to the school board two years ago after losing a race in 2015. Miller will replace Regan as the chairman of the board’s finance committee.
Miller said Regan will be missed, as he was one of the hardest-working members of the school board.
“I want to just say that Rich in particular has, I think, gone well above and beyond what the average board member did,” said Miller noting that Regan served on the board’s negotiating team for two teachers’ contracts and played a major role on the district’s facilities advisory committee. “I really enjoyed working with him.”
Klyber also praised Regan for his hard work and dedication.
“He always is well-read, he asks good questions and he’s is thoughtful,” Klyber said. “We really appreciate all those extra hours that you really didn’t have to volunteer for, but you did, taking off work and all kinds of sacrifices for the board.”
Regan initially was appointed to the school board in August 2014 after board members Lisa Gaynor and David Kodama abruptly quit the school board, upset at the board majority’s attempt to fire then-Superintendent Bhavna Sharma-Lewis.
Regan won a full four-year term in 2015 and almost became board president, but former board President Mary Rose Mangia decided to support the newly elected Miller instead.
In his final comments, Regan thanked his fellow board members for always working to further the best interests of the students of the district.
“I’m feeling immense gratitude for the opportunity to not only serve the community but to serve alongside each of you,” Regan said.
Maggos renamed president of D95 board
In Brookfield-LaGrange Park District 95, board President Michelle Maggos was elected to a new two-year term as board president on April 25 after new board members Jacqueline Jordan, Meaghan McAteer, and Katie Mulcrone were sworn in and took their seats at the board table.
Maggos has served as school board president since May 2016.
