Mending relationships with teachers, community among priorities for District 128 candidates

With five of seven seats up for election and a tumultuous period in Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128 still fresh, guiding the next steps will be up to a new school board.

Four incumbents are not running, guaranteeing a majority of members will be new after April 1. And there could be five new members if an appointee whose term is ending is not reelected.

Candidates Wes Polen, COO of a consulting firm; health care executive Doug Fleegle; attorney Marnie Navarro; Mithilesh Kotwal, managing director of a consulting firm; and, Rahul Deshmukh, a private university educator, are running for four, 4-year terms.

Tory Ramaker, a partner in an investment firm, and Nina Austin, who retired from the restaurant industry, are running for one 2-year term.

All agree relationships with the community and teachers still need mending in light of the disruption and dissent that lead to a vote of no confidence and eventual buyout of former Superintendent Denise Herrmann.

The waves have calmed with the recent hire of Marc Schaffer as the next superintendent effective July 1. What will the new board need to address?

Ramaker said Schaffer understands the importance of listening and not arriving with predefined initiatives he wants to implement.

“My hope is that he and the new board goes on that listening tour, understands what is getting in the way of the academic outcomes our students should be achieving, what is getting in the way of the teachers being able to do their jobs to the best of their ability, what’s getting in the way of us being able to recruit the best teachers and hopefully we can as a group as a team come up with the best solutions,” he said.

Polen, a Vernon Hills resident, has served on the Hawthorn Elementary District 73 school board since 2017. She said closing achievement gaps, providing the appropriate “academic rigor” for all students, particularly those with Individualized Education Plans are among her priorities.

Successfully “onboarding” Schaeffer, repairing the district’s relationship with teachers and educational support staff and rebuilding the board/district relationship with the community, are other priorities, she added.

Fleegle agreed relationships with the community, parents, teachers and students need mending.

“I think the district is yearning for respected leadership and I also think that the district is seeking accountability from that leadership as well as within the leadership,” he said.

A focus of rigor on the curriculum to prepare students for future success and establishing a credible and consistent grading system are equally important, he added.

Austin said the board needs to acknowledge the impact on students, staff and the community and lead by example.

“I believe healing is really important. I think this past year has been very challenging,” she added.

Another concern is declining student performance since the pandemic. Targeted support, tutoring and personalized learning plans, for example, balanced with well-being initiatives can be used to address that, she said.

Kotwal was appointed in October 2023 to fill a vacancy. That term is ending and he is seeking a full 4-year term.

He said the district is facing a spectrum of challenges including improving student performance and its relationship with the community.

Steps also have been taken to improve the relationship with teachers but there’s “a lot more work to be done,” he added.

“On the other end of the spectrum I see a lot of hope” because the community is very engaged and unified on the quality of education, Kotwal said.

A predicted budget deficit is the most serious issue facing the board, he added.

Navarro was among Herrmann’s most vocal critics, saying preconceived notions and initiatives had disastrous effects, including a teacher vote of no confidence.

“It’s been a very tumultuous time so this is a time of transition for our district and I'm hopeful with new leadership and a new board that we can move forward in a positive direction,” she said.

One priority is allocating resources effectively to address a “significant gap” between students with IEPs and those without, she added. Building a multitiered support system for all learners and attracting and retaining top teachers are priorities. A lack of a standardized grading system is a major unresolved and ongoing issue, Navarro said.

Rightsizing the administration and creating a realistic long-term capital improvement plan are other issues to be addressed, she added.

Schaeffer needs to be given adequate time to understand the aspirations of the community, students and teachers, Deshmukh said.

“There’s definitely a lot of loss of trust between the teachers and administration” that needs to be rebuilt, Deshmukh said.