Burkhart bids fond farewell to Barrington 220 board

At times he was the Barrington Area Unit School District 220 school board's lone critic, but on his last day as a member of the board earlier this week, Richard Burkhart bid a heartfelt farewell to his colleagues and the people he served.

"I looked at this (position) as giving back for the excellent education that our children received," Burkhart said with emotion in his voice. "I am humbled that I was able to serve."

In his four years on the board, Burkhart often voted against his colleagues, and was regularly the lone voice of dissension on district matters. Despite that, all six of his board colleagues expressed appreciation for Burkhart's tenacity and willingness to stand up for what he believed.

"I always appreciated your out-of-the-box thinking and really getting us to think about things differently," board member Sandra Bradford said. "I can already hear us saying, 'Well if Dick were here, let's think about it this way too'"

On the campaign trail prior to the 2011 election, in which he won a board seat by a single vote, Burkhart promised that he wouldn't seek a second term so he wouldn't let his re-election prospects affect his thinking when voting on district policy.