Glen Ellyn Dist. 41 board member resigning

The Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41 school board will soon begin a search for a new member to fill the seat of Dean Elger, who is moving to Utah.

Elger will step down at the June 13 board meeting, ending a three-year tenure on the panel. He called resigning an "enormously hard" decision, but says he looks forward to moving to his family's new home near Zion National Park in Utah, where he bought a property two years ago. His son is graduating from Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn in June and will be attending the University of Utah.

Under Illinois School Code, board members have until June 17, or 45 days from Elger's written resignation, to name his successor. If members fail to meet that deadline, the decision would fall to the regional superintendent of schools.

A proposed timeline for the board shows members expect to make their appointment and swear-in their pick at the end of the June 13 meeting. Though Elger plans to remain on the board until then - ensuring it has all seven members - he says he will have no role in reviewing candidates interested in the seat.

District residents can apply for the seat online at d41.org. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Friday, May 20.

The board is expected to consider applications in closed session Monday, May 23. Interviews also could be done behind closed doors during the last week in May.

The new member will serve until the April 2017 election, when four seats on the board are up for grabs.

Reflecting on his tenure, Elger, 56, said he was pleased to see a project that moved students out of portable units and into new, brick-and-mortar classrooms at the district's four elementary schools.

The board's new member will step into ongoing talks about other building projects at the district's schools. Earlier this month, members of a committee of parents and taxpayers endorsed a $15 million proposal to build an addition at Hadley Junior High and remove the school's portable classrooms, the last in the district.

A majority of the group also favored an estimated $21.5 million project that would add space to elementary schools for full-day kindergarten classes and make other building improvements.

"We have some big challenges still ahead of us trying to figure out what to do with facilities," Elger said.