Some changes are set for Lake Forest’s two local public school boards with one member from each board set to move on.
Both Lake Forest High School District 115 member Dr. Marcus Schabacker and Lake Forest School District 67 member Alice LeVert are intending to resign yet for different reasons.
Schabacker announced at the March school board meeting he would be leaving the school board at the end of April due to professional demands on his time.
Schabacker is a physician and the president and CEO of health technology and safety company. He was elected to the LFHS board for a four-year term in 2021.
“I feel I can’t serve the community or (the school board) or the administration or the students appropriately,” Schabacker said. “I think you and the District deserve someone who can dedicate their time to it.”
He said he was formally informing the school board in March because he was going to be absent from the April meeting.
District 115 President John Noble praised Schabacker’s service in a letter posted on the school’s website.
“As a board, we support and respect his choice, yet we will miss him for his strategic mindset, critical thinking, and thoughtful approach to governance,” Noble wrote. “Dr. Schabacker has volunteered countless hours striving to represent his community, always with the betterment of our schools in mind. For this, we are entirely grateful.”
Noble added in the future community members will be able to submit applications to the school board to fill the vacancy created by Schabacker’s departure.
There will also be an open spot on the District 67 board as LeVert was elected to the City Council representing the third ward in the March 19 elections.
LeVert was initially elected to the school board in 2017 and had one year left on her second term.
District 67 spokeswoman Melissa Oakley said the District 67 school board, similar to the high school board, would seek applications from residents interested in filling the position leading to an appointment.
Peter Clemens will join LeVert in entering the City Council as he was elected first ward alderman in a special election.
Incumbents Nancy Novit (1st), Edward “Ted” Notz (2nd) and Eileen Looby Weber (4th) were all re-elected to new four-year terms.
All five candidates ran unopposed and had the support of the Lake Forest Caucus. They are set to be sworn in at the May 6 City Council meeting.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
