Wasik leads pack in close race for Grayslake Dist. 127
Grayslake High School District 127's board will receive a fresh face to join the incumbents.
Unofficial election results show newcomer Kathleen Conlon Wasik winning as the leading vote-getter, with incumbents Ann Dingman and Ken Witkowski keeping their seats. In the race for the fourth and final seat, newcomer Hal Sloan held a 2-vote lead over incumbent Edwin Brown for the 4-year term. With all 40 precincts reporting, unofficial results show Wasik with 1,823 votes (23.62 percent), Dingman with 1,684 votes (21.82 percent) and Witkowski with 1,560 votes (20.22 percent). Sloan garnered 1,326 votes (17.18 percent) to Brown's 1,324 votes (17.16) percent.
Among the issues before the election was longtime District 127 Superintendent Catherine Finger's planned retirement after the 2016-17 academic season.
Wasik, an editor, said she would push for a schools boss who is perceived as inspirational. She said she also would want District 127's superintendent to take a more hands-on approach to lead teachers and students to a higher level.
Dingman, an insurance company service representative who's been a District 127 board member for about 10½ years, said she would want the new superintendent to have a high level of passion for the job, similar to Finger. She said it would be important to find someone with good regional and state connections as well.
Elected to his first 4-year term in 2011, Brown said Grayslake High doesn't need to be fixed, so he'd want the new leader to have top administrative experience with an ability to sustain success.
Witkowski, a financial services professional, said Finger provides a model of whom District 127 should seek as her replacement. He said the new schools boss should have a wide breadth of knowledge and a lot of connections throughout the state.
Sloan, who works in sales, said he'd want a superintendent with some administrative background who is a strong leader.
Incumbent Jon Cokefair, elected to the board in 2007, did not seeking re-election.