The Orland School District 135 Board will hold a special meeting Monday to fill the vacancy created by last month’s resignation of the former board president.
Laura Berry, the board’s acting president, said 16 candidates applied to fill the remainder of the four-year term that runs until April 2019. Joe La Margo won re-election to the seat in April but resigned recently to focus on his new job as assistant village manager in Orland Park, where he had been a deputy clerk until his July promotion. He also serves a village spokesman.
Berry said board members have agreed on the successor to La Margo but didn’t want to act at Monday’s regular meeting because member Greg Okon was absent. A vote to select the next board president likely will take place after the vacancy is filled.
Also Monday night, the school board met in closed session, with ongoing negotiations with the teachers union among the discussion items. Berry and District 135 Superintendent Janet Stutz offered no details as to what has extended talks three months beyond the expiration of the last contract, and the Orland Council of Educators hasn’t spoken on the situation either.
The board also received an update Monday on registration planning and classroom renovations for the fall 2016 debut of full-day kindergarten.
“We’re on time and under budget,” facilities director Dan Werfelmen said of the renovations.
The District 135 board chose last spring to convert or renovate existing space at the schools, after board members balked at the $4 million projected cost of converting Park School into an early education center.
Toward that end, the board signed off Monday on a $61,800 contract with Troop Contractors for renovation materials at Centennial School. The focus of the renovations has been installing space-saving “learning walls” to store classroom materials.
Kindergarten registration will held from 3 to 8 p.m. during a day next month at four schools — Nov. 3 at Prairie, Nov. 10 at Centennial, Nov. 12 at Park and Nov. 17 at Center.
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Lynn Zeder, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, said the early registration will aid in planning for a larger number of students who might otherwise have gone outside the district for full-day kindergarten. She said parents will be able to change their mind between half-day and all-day kindergarten in the months ahead.
“We’re going to be flexible. We’ll work with you,” Zeder said. “We just want them registered.”
Patrick Guinane is a freelance reporter.