The Lyons Township High School District 204 Board swore in three new board members along with one incumbent during a special meeting April 28 and with that, a shakeup of the seven-person board.
The three new additions were Christine Kozelka Campbell, Shawn Kennedy and Elias Lopez, while Gioia Giannotti Frye won reelection April 1. The three new members replace Jill Grech, Michael Thomas and Paula Struwing. Tim Albores, Kari Dillon and Jill Beda Daniels did not face election and remain on the board.
Grech, the outgoing board president, and Thomas did not run, while Paula Struwing was ruled ineligible following her board appointment a year ago. The four members sworn in at the meeting will face reelection in 2029.
Following the swearing in ceremony, the board elected Albores as president, Jill Beda Daniels vice president and Frye as secretary. None faced opposition to their appointments.
The board has faced severe community backlash for years over attempts to sell land in a Willow Springs subdivision for industrial use. Residents there were outraged the school considered, mostly in secret, the land sale, despite predictions it might have brought the district an estimated $55 million. But the potential buyer intended to use the land for a manufacturing site, and the land is near a school and homes. Although the district has since put the kibosh on that effort, the Willow Springs community remains uneasy about any potential deal. The state rebuked the district and the secretary of state ruled the School Board violated the state’s open meetings act several times.
None of the new members of the board have responded to calls for comment. The district has not sold the land.
Before she left the board, outgoing President Grech said her four years on the board were “eye-opening.”
“These past four years have definitely been some of the most fulfilling, eye opening and humbling of my life,” Grech said. She added she has pride in her work on the board and she thanked the administration and the community.
“Thanks to the LT community for trusting me and holding all of us accountable and always showing up for our students,” she said.
District Superintendent Brian Watermen hinted at some of the challenges the outgoing board members faced over the last few years in his outgoing remarks to the departing members.
“During what I believe is the most challenging time in history in Illinois and in the nation,” he said. “During these difficult times, I think it was important to focus on the students and every single one of you did that every day during your entire tenure.”
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
