The residents of River Forest contribute about 18 percent of the students and 25 percent of the revenue for Oak Park and River Forest High School.
But their representation on the District 200 School Board could dwindle down to zero after the April 7, 2015 election when District 200 Board President John Phelan, the board’s sole River Forest resident, steps down.
Phelan said he’s unsuccessfully looked for a potential candidate to represent River Forest, even though Superintendent Steven Isoye has assured him he will try to balance the interests of the two communities served as he works with the board.
“There is no substitute for having an elected village resident participating for the process,” conceded Phelan, a labor lawyer who is leaving the Board for personal and professional reasons.
Phelan said he believes the reason he hasn’t been able to find a replacement from his community is that residents are unusually occupied with other business and personal pursuits. He also said he believes they are generally satisfied with the decisions made by the board, to date.
“I really enjoyed it. It’s really stimulating, makes you feel food about giving back to the community,” he said of his time in office. “I have always felt that the way to build self-esteem is to do esteemable things. It’s been a nice run.”
Local school boards are expected to undergo significant changes in April, when new members take the place of members who have decided against running for an additional term.
Though Oak Park Elementary District 97 Board President Robert Spatz and Board Jim O’Connor each have announced they will run, Denise Sacks has said she won’t. Peter Traczyk has announced he is running for the Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 Board.
Of the three District 200 seats in the election, only Sharon Patchak-Layman, also a former District 97 Board member, said on Dec. 1 she will run again. Board President John Phelan and Ralph Lee have decided not to run again.
The Cook County Clerk’s Office accepted candidate filing paperwork through Dec. 22 for those seeking office in April. Here’s who has filed to run for local school boards as of Dec. 19.
District 97
A. Rupa Datta-Nemana: She has served as a member of William Beye Elementary School’s After School Academy committee, which provides extracurricular recreational and educational activities for students.
Rita Kahn: She is development coordinator of the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry.
Holly Spurlock: An Oak Park resident, she is a lawyer working out of Chicago.
Jay Schulman: A parent at Beye, he describes himself as a “Technology and Security Consultant for a boutique consulting firm.”
Jim O’Connor: An incumbent currently serving on the District 97 Board, he is a former charter school educator and project director for Advance Illinois.
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Robert Spatz: Though he had not yet filed by press time, District 97’s incumbent Board president announced in September that he would run for a third term. He counts among his accomplishments the district’s International Baccalaureate initiative, the 1:1 technology initiative and the implementation of full-day kindergarten.
District 200
Guillermo R. Cabacungan III: An Oak Park resident, this is his first try at a local election.
Sharon Patchak-Layman: Though the former District 97 Board member wasn’t sure whether she would seek another term on the District 200 Board, the Oak Park resident known for taking a hard line on spending threw her hat in the ring on Dec. 1.
Sara Dixon Spivy: Her election would leave a vacancy on the Village of Oak Park Liquor Control Review Board to which she has been appointed to serve as a commissioner through April 29, 2016.
Peter Traczyk: A father of two OPRF student and member of the District 200 Pool Committee, he declined to run for a third term on the District 97 Board in favor of running for a seat on the high school’s Board.
District 90
Barbara A. Hickey: She has served as a volunteer for the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry and at Abraham Lincoln Elementary and Theodore Roosevelt Middle schools.
Linda J. Holliday: A small business owner, she retired as head assistant attorney for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Ralph Martire: The incumbent, known for being vocal on fiscal issues, serves as executive director of a bipartisan economic and fiscal policy think tank called the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.
Richard Moore: After completing doctoral coursework in Policy Studies in Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he is working toward a doctorate in educational leadership at Concordia University.