![]() Neither Mike Thiessen, the president of the TTO board, nor TTO treasurer Ken Getty responded to requests for comments about the bill.Īlthough Landek was the driving force behind the legislation he did not sponsor the bill saying that he doesn’t feel the need to have his name on bills. “It’s adapted to local needs,” said Landek when asked why the bill only affects the Lyons TTO and no other TTO’s. Landek said that the having local school board members on the TTO’s board will give school districts input and insight into how the TTO operates. “I think it’s going to be good for everybody,” Landek said. In even numbered years that school board president must be from a district that is a feeder district for Argo High School. In odd numbered years that third appointed member must be a school board president from a feeder district of LTHS. The third appointed member will be a school board president. Another appointed member of the TTO board will be a board member from, and appointed by, the school boards of Argo High School 217, Summit School District 104, Willow Springs District 108 and Indian Springs District 209. One appointed member would be chosen by the boards of school districts of Western Springs School District 101, LaGrange School District 102, Lyons School District 103, LaGrange School District 105, LaGrange Highlands School District 106 and Pleasantdale School District 107. The districts are divided into two groupings divided by the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Currently all three members of the TTO are elected by the voters of Lyons Township and serve six-year staggered terms. The new appointed members must be members of school boards of districts served by the Lyons TTO. The legislation expands the current board from three to seven by adding one additional member who will be elected by the voters of Lyons Township and adding three appointed members who will be selected by the school boards of the districts that the Lyons TTO serves. Following the resolution of the lawsuit LTHS withdrew from the TTO, as a state law passed a few years ago allowed it to do. The TTO spent more than $4 million on legal fees for the lawsuit. The verdict was a major victory for LTHS as Cook County Circuit Court Judge Jerry Esrig awarded the TTO only about $765,000 in damages from LTHS, far less than the nearly $6 million the TTO was seeking. Last year Lyons Township High School District 204, which had been the largest and wealthiest district in the TTO, left the Lyons TTO after a verdict in the long running lawsuit the TTO brought against LTHS. A new principal, Jennifer Tyrrell, also starts at LTHS this summer.The Lyons TTO, which invests the reserves of member school districts and handles check writing for local school districts, has been under fire for years. Superintendent Tim Kilrea is retiring on July 1 and will be replaced by Principal Brian Waterman. The four new board members and the new board president come during a time of transition for LTHS. “People will be asking questions, and so the community will get to hear firsthand from the administration and from the board how the decisions are made and how we come to where we’re at.” “I think it will be very healthy for the community, because it probably means that information that people maybe take for granted - that everyone knows because it’s just been that way for so long - will be bought back up again,” Dillon said. She said she thinks the new board will bring a fresh set of eyes and ears to the board table. “I’m also looking to partner with the board and superintendent on our strategic plan for LT.”ĭillon is not especially concerned about the relative inexperience of the new school board. “Equity is a primary focus of ours and I just hope to continue that work,” Dillon said. “There’s an appetite for there to be different perspectives and people coming from different backgrounds right now, and I think that’s what the election results showed us,” Dillon said.Įquity has emerged as a major issue at LTHS and will be a priority for the school board, Dillon said. Kelly, like Cushing, is a graduate of LTHS and when she ran in 2019 she was aligned with incumbent candidates Barbara Rosinsky and Phil Palmer, while Dillon was more of an outsider who ran an independent campaign. She is the first female school board president since Heather Alderman served as president from 2013 to 2015.ĭillon’s election as board president is perhaps indicative of the new atmosphere on the board. She works in marketing for company called Synergy Creative that specializes in higher education marketing. Dillon, 48, lives in Indian Head Park and is the mother to two LTHS students, a junior and a freshman.
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