School board vacancies are not uncommon and usually they are filled without too much difficulty via the election process. But Brookfield-La Grange Park School District 95 has a greater challenge this time: there are four vacant seats but only one person is running in the April 1 election.
Incumbent board members Barb Garvey, Jessica Filby and board secretary Meaghan Allen have opted not to run again. Only incumbent Jackie Jordan, board vice president, will be on the ballot.
This means that the existing board – President Katie Mulcrone, Jordan and board members Kristin Reingruber and Elizabeth Loerop – will have 60 days starting late April to appoint three new members.
That’s not as dire as it might seem, according to Superintendent Dr. Mark Kuzniewski, who is himself retiring June 30. It’s just a matter of following protocol to add the right community members to the board.
“The school board in District 95 for a long time has operated pretty efficiently, they understand the role of a school board member,” he said. “It’s a very healthy school board.”
Once the election is certified, around April 22, the existing board will have 60 days to appoint three community members to fill those board seats, Kuzniewski said.
Mulcrone, who has served on the board since 2019 and has been its president since 2021, said there are many reasons why there were no candidates for the three open board seats.
“The election may be perceived as daunting,” she said, noting that there is a fair amount of paperwork to get on the ballot, to say nothing of actual campaigning. But there are other reasons.
“People must feel their board is running the district in a way people approve of,” she added.
Mulcrone said that during her tenure, there have been two situations where the board has had to appoint members. One stepped down in 2020, and another moved out of the district.
“We’ve been through the process,” she said, adding that a communication will go out from the district about the three open board seats, encouraging residents to fill out an application, which they can do by contacting the district office after the election.
“We’re obviously going to want to do it quickly,” she said. “We want to get people seated as quickly as we can.”
As Mulcrone understands, Allen and Filby stepped down to pursue other opportunities. Garvey said her decision came down to the fact that it was just time.
“I’ve been on the board for 12 years and have seen a lot of great initiatives in my time that I’ve supported come to fruition,” she said. “After a while, I feel like I don’t have as much contact with the teachers and parents, and I don’t have kids there.”
Admittedly, though, three open board spots are a bit odd, Garvey said.
“That is very weird,” she said. “I didn’t know that was going to be the case. I didn’t want to leave the board in that situation. I am hoping some people will examine where they are at and feel like they can contribute.”
There are compelling reasons for a resident to consider applying for one of the open school board seats, Mulcrone said. One is working with new superintendent Ryan Evans, who will assume his position July 1.
“I think someone would benefit from seeing how strong of a district we have,” she said. “It’s an exciting time in our district. It’s a good time getting on the board. I get as much out of it as I put into it.”
Kuzniewski, superintendent for the last 16 years, agreed.
“The reason they should want to do this is it allows a community member to have a voice at the highest level of school district decision-making,” he said. “That will allow them in turn to have the greatest impact on the quality of the schools.”