Endorsements: Bianco, Feryance, Torossy for Wauconda Unit District 118 school board
Updated 3/12 to correct spelling of Kathleen Bianco.
Wauconda Unit District 118 voters have all good choices in the four candidates running for three 4-years terms on the school board.
Two of the candidates are incumbents: Kathy Bianco, 49, of Wauconda, who is seeking her second term, and Jonathan Feryance, 47, of Wauconda, who has been on the board since 2011.
Bianco and Feryance have the advantage of incumbency, the knowledge of the issues and experience with working together that come from that.
They express similar concerns about being sure school personnel are doing all they can to address student well-being. They both stress the importance of the district being financially responsible. At the same time, they favor reasonable increases in current negotiations after past concessions by staff during an economic downturn.
We endorse both candidates for another term.
For the third seat, we are torn between Robert Collins, 48, of Volo, and Vincent J. Torossy, 26, of Wauconda.
First, let us note that three of the four candidates have connections to education: Collins is a school principal in Vernon Hills and has a sister who works for the high school, Feryance's wife is a social worker in the district and Torossy's sister is a substitute teacher in the district.
Such connections can be a source of insight, but also a source of conflicted loyalties. In this case, we are convinced that all the candidates are seeking the job for the right reasons and won't let such ties influence them unduly.
Collins, 2018 Lake County principal of the year, brings an impressive depth of knowledge to the job and points out that Volo lacks representation on the board.
Torossy, who is working on his master's in business administration at Loyola, spent 13 years in Wauconda schools. He would bring a different perspective as someone close to students in age and his answers to questions show that he has spent time learning and thinking about the issues the board faces. We like his idea of building better relationships between the schools and post-school career and academic opportunities. In the end, we support Torossy.