At a special May 3 meeting of the District 233 school board, new members were installed and the board elected new officers. It then decided to change the meeting start time.
Newly elected board members Pam Jackson, Gerald Pauling, Christopher Riedel and Nathan Legardy took the oath of office, pledging to do their best to spend the district’s resources wisely and foster and endorse a curriculum at Homewood-Flossmoor High School that will benefit all students and meet their individual needs.
In the April 4 election, Jackson, Pauling and Legardy were re-elected to the board, and Riedel was elected to an open seat that was vacated by Debbie Berman who stepped down after nine years on the board.
When it came time to elect officers, Gerald Pauling was nominated to continue as board president. Six board members voted in favor, but he received a ‘no’ vote from Jackson.
Both Jackson and Legardy were nominated for the vice president/secretary position. Legardy won that position receiving five votes from Pauling, Riedel, Steve Anderson, Cynthia Turnquest and himself. Jackson won votes from member Michelle Hoereth and herself.
Jackson told the board she believes they are all passionate about their work on behalf of H-F, but at the same time she asked for a board self-evaluation or retreat “where we can really galvanize and discuss some of the foundational principles that we will need to focus on in the coming year.”
“My vote is my vote,” Jackson said. “It should be respected.” She urged fellow board members to do so “withhold judgment. Listen emphatically, focus on the content rather than anything else. Our differences should not become weapons for personal disputes on the board….I think there can only be one moral imperative. I expect that we’ll treat every board member with respect and demonstrate core values with the board.”
Legardy said of the board: “We have a paradigm shift that’s on our forefront and a lot of unique challenges,” especially around teaching and learning. He told the Chronicle he expects new approaches will be discussed by the board in the coming months.
Riedel thanked board members for their support during the campaign, and said he looks forward to the work in “collaborative, collegial and supportive” ways.
The board’s other business was setting a calendar and time for future meetings. There was no discussion on the board continuing to meet on the third Tuesday of the month, but Legardy asked that the board consider moving its meeting start time to 6 p.m. so that staff doesn’t need to stay for board meetings much past the end of the school day.
Anderson said the board typically is meeting at 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. to deal with business in closed session before the start of the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. To move the regular meeting time up would mean those closed sessions would need to start at 4:30 p.m. and that wouldn’t help any of the board members who are all employed and working outside of the H-F area.
The board finally agreed to start meetings at 7 p.m., moving it up a half-hour from its current 7:30 p.m. time. The change takes affect with the Aug. 15 meeting.
The board cancelled the July 18 meeting but expects to use that time for a board retreat.