Endorsements: Cavill, Dombrowski, Hinshaw, Rosenblum for Palatine-Schaumburg District 211 school board

An interesting field of candidates is running for four seats on the school board in Palatine-Schaumburg Townships High School District 211, one of the largest high school districts in Illinois and one of the finest.

The candidates include incumbents Peter Dombrowski and Steven Rosenblum of Schaumburg and board Vice President Will Hinshaw of Palatine.

It's an interesting mix and by no means of like minds.

Hinshaw, first elected in 2015, is an accountant and past Illinois and Palatine Jaycees president who aptly sees the district's priorities as closing achievement gaps across socio-economic lines, recruiting a quality successor to Superintendent Daniel Cates and keeping the district debt-free.

Rosenblum, appointed to the board in 2017, has a long record of civic involvement and a recruiting background that makes him an ideal contributor for a superintendent search. He puts an emphasis on student safety, transparency and expanding educational opportunities.

Dombrowski, completing his first term, is the board's financial watchdog and a sharp one at that. He puts an emphasis on taxes, transparency and ethics.

Each of them plays an important role on the board, despite sometimes disagreeing and perhaps precisely because they do. While we wouldn't want a board populated fully by clones of any one of them, we think the diverse attributes they bring are healthy and vital.

We endorse each of them.

We're intrigued for the fourth seat by three challengers: retired Navy commander Mark Cramer of Hoffman Estates, health educator Kimberly Cavill of Palatine and firefighter Matthew Saternus of Hoffman Estates,

Each is well-versed on the issues and dedicated to good high schools.

Cramer is a staunch critic of many aspects of the district's transparency, communications and spending. We find him perceptive but worry about how well he would work as a teammate with other board members.

We're impressed by Saternus' educational chops and his devotion to quality education, but we worry about how well he balances that with a board member's obligation to taxpayers.

That leads us to Cavill, who seems to have a balanced view of a board member's role and a solid sense of what the district's priorities should be.

We like all the candidates but we endorse Cavill for our final recommendation for the board.