Lyons Township High School Board of Education unanimously chose Willow Springs resident Paula Struwing to fill the vacancy on the school board created after former school board president Dawn Aubert resigned from the board because she is moving out of state.
“We are grateful to have had so many qualified individuals who responded with a willingness to serve, and we are excited to welcome Paula Struwing to the District 204 Board of Education,” said new board president Jill Grech. “Paula’s background in education and her strong commitment and passion for our students, community, and public education is clearly evident, and we look forward to the experiences, talents and perspectives she will bring to the board table.”
Struwing’s election is significant in part because for the past 18 months the Lyons Township High School Board of Education has wrestled with the controversial topic of what to do with the 72-acre parcel of undeveloped land it owns in Willow Springs. Many residents from Willow Springs vehemently opposed LT’s effort to sell the land to an industrial developer last year and charged that the school board did not care about Willow Springs and the southern half of the district.
Struwing, who has lived in Willow Springs for four years, said that she would give the residents of Willow Springs a voice at the table. She noted that there has not been a Willow Springs resident on the LT school board for a long time. After her first meeting Monday, Struwing said that she wasn’t ready to say what she thought LT should do with the Willow Springs property.
“With me just coming in I have a lot to learn from this side,” Struwing said. “I’ve only been exposed to what’s in the news and I fully respect what’s going on in here and there’s a lot of things that can’t be said in the public at this particular point so I’m eager to learn the other side of it.”
Struwing noted that many in the Willow Springs community feel that the school board has not been transparent with the community about its plans for the land.
“Even though there may be a feeling of transparency from the board’s perspective I know that my community doesn’t necessarily feel that there’s been transparency and if that’s the way they feel that’s reality to my neighbors,” Struwing said.
Struwing said that many in Willow Springs have been angry with the LT school board and administration.
“I think a lot of it is perhaps a breakdown in communication and I’m hoping to be able to bridge that gap to the best of my ability,” Struwing said.
The school board had put decisions and next steps toward a decision about what to do with the land on hold until a new board member was selected. That matter was not discussed at Monday’s meeting.
Struwing works as a health and driver’s education teacher at Proviso West High School. Her son is a freshman at LT. Struwing worked at LT from 2007 until 2014, first as a temporary, one-year fill-in teaching health, and then for six years as a paraeducator. During that time, she also served as an assistant swimming coach.
“I know a lot of the teachers here in this district and I have a great deal of respect for a lot of them,” Struwing said.
Struwing has also taught and coached at Bartlett High School and Hubbard High School. She also spent three years as the head swim coach at the University Wisconsin Oshkosh. Struwing also had experience serving on a school board because she is a former member of the St. Cletus School Board of Education.
Struwing, a graduate of Elgin High School, was a college swimmer at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse specializing in the breaststroke and individual medley.
Eleven people applied to fill the vacancy. One dropped out before the board interviewed applicants, one didn’t show up for a scheduled interview and one dropped out after being interviewed.
