It took a little longer than expected for John Phelan to join the District 200 Board of Education as its new member during the board’s April 28 reorganization meeting.
The new board was not seated until after 10 p.m. The old board had to take care of some business in executive session. Earlier in the evening, the board had its regular meeting, the last one for John Allen, who lost his seat in the April 5 election. As standard practice, the old board concludes its business before adjourning and entering into a new session to seat new members.
The reorganization commenced around 10:30. Phelan was sworn in, along with Sharon Patchak-Layman and Ralph Lee — the two incumbents won re-election on April 5.
“I’m excited to be back as part of the high school that I graduated from and have such admiration for,” said Phelan, in remarks after being sworn in.
Lee and Patchak-Layman also made remarks.
“I just want to thank the community for giving me an opportunity to serve for another four years here,” Patchak-Layman said. “I bring the same commitments from my first term on the board to my second term. I want to make sure that the community is informed and understands what we’re doing, and that there’s transparency.”
Lee’s remarks were shorter — “I’m glad to be back,” he said.
The session also included the election of new board officers. Dietra Millard was re-elected board president. Terry Finnegan and Amy McCormack, both in their first terms, were elected vice president and secretary respectively.
Allen bids farewell
Before adjourning its regular meeting, members expressed their appreciation of Allen. A resolution was read and approved acknowledging his time on the board. Millard said she was impressed when Allen, who works for Illinois state government, joined the high school board. She also credited him for helping clarifying certain information for her.
“He really teaches in a way that I don’t even think he appreciates,” she said.
Millard also thanked Allen for pushing the school and board to tackle the issue of race at OPRF related to education as well as their personal views. Finnegan said Allen was a mentor for him and McCormack during their first two years. McCormack was not present at the meeting but was on speaker phone. She provided a little levity as she began to offer her remarks, speaking at the same time as Lee, who yielded the floor to her.
“That was one of the first things I was going to thank John for was tolerating my interruptions,” she said, the board and audience members breaking into laughter.
Lee, Patchak-Layman and Jacques Conway also thanked Allen for his service.
Allen, at times emotional, spoke about the things he was most proud of at the school and during his time on the board. Working with the teachers was one, though he noted they didn’t always see eye-to-eye with him on certain issues. He also talked about being effective as a first-termer in trying to make changes.
“That was my motivation when I started. I didn’t think it would actually happen,” he joked, followed by laughter from the crowd.