Bond didn't keep up with school board promise

When Michael Bond of Grayslake ran for state Senate, he said he could still meet his obligations on the Woodland Elementary District 50 school board.

Now, after deciding to relinquish the school board seat last year, he admits he was wrong.

Elected to the school board in 2005 and the state Senate in 2006, Bond missed 24 of 27 official public meetings in his final year on the school board, according to a Daily Herald review of district records.

In the meetings Bond missed, the board voted on or debated fee increases, freezing administration salaries, what kind of food children were being fed and sex education policy, among other issues. The eight-member board also missed out on his direct insight as a lawmaker during meetings on state funding and mandates.

Bond said he made many of the missed meetings by conference call, though board records don't indicate that.

Ultimately, however, he says he made a mistake in believing he could meet his obligations as a school board member while serving in the Illinois Senate and holding down a full-time job as an Allstate executive. He was also flirting with a run for Congress at the time.

"I would do it differently," Bond said, adding that his wife is active in the PTA and he has two children in the Gurnee-based district. "I very much care about Woodland."

District 50 school board members are not paid. A district spokeswoman declined to comment. Current board President Lawrence Gregorash and past board President Bruce Bohren didn't return repeated phone calls about Bond's absences.

Bond's four-year term expired on the school board in the Spring of 2009. He was elected to the Senate in 2006 and seated in January of 2007.

Bond said his attendance record on the school board fell off more than he anticipated after being seated largely because of Senate duties. He said he didn't anticipate the long summers of special sessions under Gov. Rod Blagojevich or the chaos caused by the Chicago Democrat's arrest and impeachment.

The Daily Herald's review found that in his last school year on the board, Bond missed 10 meetings that didn't conflict with days the Senate was in session.

"It was also very difficult from a family perspective," he said.

Bond said he didn't resign from the school board, because he kept thinking that in the next year or next month it would be easier for him to attend meetings.

If he did resign, the board could have appointed a replacement until the next local election.

Bond didn't seek to keep his seat in the April 2009 school board elections.