Ryan resigns from District 300 board

After three years on the Community Unit District 300 school board, where he took an active role in shaping board policy, John Ryan has resigned.

Ryan recently accepted a job that requires him to spend significant time overseas - making it difficult for him to attend and prepare for board meetings.

"He just felt he wouldn't be able to do justice to the position," board member Monica Clark said. "He didn't feel it was right to do that to the other board members and the community."

Ryan was elected to the board from Algonquin Township in 2007, after a contentious campaign in which he harshly criticized the way District 300's 2006 referendum effort was handled.

Ryan and Clark, who were supported by conservative activist Jack Roeser, ran on a platform of greater transparency and fiscal accountability.

Ryan's association with Roeser and bruised feelings from the 2007 campaign initially made it difficult for him to achieve his goals. His first attempt to pass a conflict-of-interest policy in 2007 failed, in part because other board members saw it as a political measure aimed at supporters of the 2006 referendum.

But Ryan appeared to gain the trust of his colleagues, and when he reintroduced the policy in 2009 and honed it through months of debate in the policy committee he chaired, the measure passed.

"I appreciate how he got into the issues and always had his own opinions and would state them clearly," said Dave Alessio, a board member who served alongside Ryan for a year. "He wanted to get a lot of policies updated and straightened out."

Ryan is a Republican precinct committeeman in McHenry County and worked on the gubernatorial campaign of Andy McKenna, as well as the campaigns of state Sen. Pam Althoff and state Rep. Mike Tryon.

He could not be reached for comment. A message on his voice mail says he is out of the country.

Board members said they had not yet discussed how to replace Ryan. They have 45 days to fill the seat, which will be up for election in 2011.