District 158 board appoints new member

The Huntley Community District 158 school board has appointed Lake in the Hills resident Ra'Shawn Walker to a vacant board seat.

Walker is a district parent and a contract oversight specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice. She was chosen from among four candidates who applied to fill the seat left open by the resignation of school board President Don Drzal in May.

Drzal was elected to the board in 2009 and served as president since 2013. He stepped down due to starting a new job in Chicago. Board Vice President Michael Fleck took over the presidency.

Walker has worked for 19 years as a liaison between the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, federal court, law enforcement, private contractors and the community to help place federal prisoners in residential re-entry centers within Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.

"This experience has afforded me the opportunity to work with people of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and socioeconomic status. My work as a public servant has enabled me to promote conversations and cultivate partnerships in climates where collaborative work was not initially considered or welcome," she wrote in her application letter to the board.

Walker will serve until the school board election next spring.