Replacement sought after Krauspe steps down from Kaneland school board
Kaneland school board member Cheryl Krauspe has stepped down to spend more time taking care of her family.
Her term expires in April, and she did not plan to run for re-election, she said Tuesday afternoon.
"If I can't commit fully to it, if I can't give 100 percent, I feel like it is time to step aside," she said.
Krauspe said she has had to spend more time this year helping her sister care for their 94-year-old father and 100-year-old aunt in Macomb. That caused her to miss several school board meetings.
"I need to step up. I need to be there," Krauspe said.
She has been on the board since 2005, including a five-year stint as its president.
Her first term was when enrollment was increasing during the housing boom of the early 2000s. At that time, she said, the board thought the district might need to build 10 new schools within 10 years. "We were just driven by where we were going to put all the kids," she said.
In early 2008 voters approved borrowing $65 million to build a second middle school and to fix up Kaneland Middle School.
By the time Kaneland Harter Middle School was finished, however, the country had plunged into a recession and the local homebuilding industry had collapsed. The district ended up needing only one middle school, and the old one now houses some Fox Valley Career Center classes.
In her second term, the district was focused on finances, she said, as the value of property dropped and inflation was low, limiting the increases the district could take in property taxes for operations.
But in the last term, she has enjoyed the focus on the district's planning for academic growth.
It also included some heated meetings as president when board member Tony Valente disagreed with her, other board members and district officials on some matters. She used her gavel to rule him out of order, and he accused her of censoring him and running meetings improperly. Valente lost his bid for re-election in 2015.
Krauspe said she will still be involved with the Kaneland Foundation, which raises money for the district.
"That will help me to still stay the Kaneland Knight I want to be," she said.
The board will appoint someone to serve the remainder of her term. People who live in Blackberry Township are not eligible, because the board already has three members from the township.
Applications are due by 8 a.m. Sept. 26 and the board is expected to vote by Oct. 24.
Submit a letter of application and resume to the school board at 47W326 Keslinger Road, Maple Park, 60151.