Applications Open For Evanston School Board Vacancies - Evanston, IL - Empty seats on the school boards for Evanston Township High School and Evanston/Skokie School District 65 are set to be filled next month.
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The District 65 School Board held its first in-person meeting in more than a year at the Joseph E. Hill Administration Building tonight, May 3, wearing masks and spread out about six feet from each other.
The meeting, called the Board’s reorganization meeting, consisted of swearing in four Board members, electing officers, and honoring several members of the Board, one whose term expired and another who resigned.
Swearing in Four Members
Board member Sergio Hernandez, acting as President Pro Tem, swore in the four people who won seats on the Board in the April 6 election. Three of the winners are incumbents: Soo La Kim, Joseph “Joey” Hailpern, and Elisabeth “Biz” Lindsay-Ryan. The fourth winner is Donna Wang Su. They will each serve a four-year term on the Board beginning today, May 3, 2021.
Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board members swore in newcomer Donna Wang Su and reelected members Elisabeth “Biz” Lindsay-Ryan, Joey Hailpern and Soo La Kim at Monday’s board meeting.
Outgoing board member Suni Kartha (Weinberg ’97), who did not seek reelection, said she was proud of the board’s work over the last eight years. Over the years, Kartha said the board has made policy changes and addressed curricular refinements and investment in early childhood education, with more recent accomplishments including safely educating students during the pandemic.
The former D65 board president also said there is more work to be done in the district, especially around dismantling policies that perpetuate anti-Black institutional racism.
In the wake of Evanston’s election results getting finalized, organizers, electees and residents said they are looking forward to the potential for positive change under new local officials.
Candidates campaigned in the most crowded election cycle in decades, school board races featured a prominent push for racial equity and long-entrenched alderpeople were unseated. Many residents said it’s important not to throw in the towel after a long election cycle. Instead, the results can be a springboard for a new season of change.
Kristen White, a longtime resident and Evanston/Skokie School District 65 parent, said she believes the election of District 65 board members Soo La Kim, Elisabeth “Biz” Lindsay-Ryan, Joseph “Joey” Hailpern and Donna Wang Su will continue a vision of enacting anti-racist policies. Of the four, Wang Su is the only newcomer to the board.