Cambridge Lakes Charter School board leadership changes
Two members of the board that governs the Cambridge Lakes Charter School resigned Wednesday, including the chairman and one of five founding members that form a majority on the board.
And the board has named as its new chairman the executive director of the nonprofit group that runs the school and that has filed objections against an effort to unionize teachers at the school.
The resignations of Chairman Jerry Conrad and Bill Doran leave in doubt the continued influence of Cambridge Homes and Community Unit District 300 over the direction of the Pingree Grove school.
Conrad is senior vice president of Cambridge Homes, the builder that developed the charter school and the surrounding subdivision.
Doran is the principal of Westfield Community School in Algonquin and has helped facilitate communication between District 300 and the charter school.
Larry Fuhrer, the chief executive officer and executive director of the Northern Kane Educational Corp., has been elected the board's new chairman.
Conrad did not return calls seeking comment.
"I didn't know that was coming," Doran said of Conrad's resignation. "He indicated he was approaching retirement and is starting to wind down his responsibilities."
Doran said he resigned to make time for his new position as president of the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Rotary Club, a post he will assume in July.
"I think it's important that I don't overextend myself with volunteer work," Doran said.
Most of the teachers at the Pingree Grove school have declared interest in forming a union. But objections filed by the Northern Kane Educational Corp. mean a judge will probably have to rule on a petition filed by the Illinois Education Association to represent the teachers. A hearing is set for next month.
In March, the state education association filed a grievance with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, saying charter school officials violated teachers' right to organize at a Feb. 25 staff-wide meeting.
At the meeting, charter school officials asked teachers to say if they had been active in union efforts and told them to denounce the union or face consequences, according to documents obtained by the Daily Herald.
A charter school teacher who resigned in March has said his contract was not renewed for next year because he helped lead efforts to form a union at the school.
Fuhrer has not detailed Northern Kane's objections to the teachers unionizing.
Doran said he intends to return to the Northern Kane board in July 2009, when his Rotary Club presidency ends.
The Northern Kane board appointed Sylvia Polletta, who was an at-large board member, to Conrad's founding member seat.
Doran's founding member post is vacant, and it is not clear if a District 300 employee will fill the position.
Either way, the district will have a presence on the board, as District 300 board member Monica Clark will continue to serve as the district's liaison to the Northern Kane board.
The three at-large board members will be replaced in the summer by four new board members -- two chosen by parents, one chosen by teachers and one selected by the founding members.