Endorsements: Polen, Navarro, Kotwal, Deshmukh and Ramaker for District 128 school board
Whomever is elected to the Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128 board will have their work cut out helping mend relationships in a district where the last superintendent left under a cloud.
Community members and teachers still are recovering from the dissent that lead to a vote of no confidence and eventual buyout of former Superintendent Denise Herrmann.
With four incumbents not running for reelection, a majority of board 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 of Vernon Hills and COO of a consulting firm; health care executive Doug Fleegle of Libertyville; attorney Marnie Navarro of Libertyville; Mithilesh Kotwal of Vernon Hills and managing director of a consulting firm; and, Rahul Deshmukh, a private university educator from Libertyville, are running for four, 4-year terms.
Tory Ramaker of Libertyville, a partner in an investment firm, and Nina Austin of Libertyville, who retired from the restaurant industry, are running for one 2-year term.
Those elected will have to calm the waters and work collaboratively with new hire Marc Schaffer, who takes the helm as superintendent effective July 1. They will have the substantial task of rebuilding trust and repairing the district’s relationship with teachers, educational support staff, parents and the community.
Polen has prior school board experience, having been elected to the Hawthorn Elementary District 73 school board in 2017 and reelected in 2021. Kotwal was appointed to the District 128 board in October 2023 to fill a vacancy. None of the other candidates have experience in elected office.
All the candidates shared concerns about the need to close achievement gaps, support students in their recovery from pandemic-related learning loss, focusing on rigor and dealing with a projected future budget deficit. And all offer solid, well-thought ideas for addressing those issues.
While the choice is a tough one, Polen, Navarro, Kotwal, Deshmukh and Ramaker would bring the best combination of professional experience to the board, and they have best articulated how to move the district forward and tackle the coming challenges. They are endorsed.