A Letter From Deb Etzel,
President District 220 Board of Education

Dear Parents,

The start of a new school year is always a busy but exciting time of year. I hope things are going well in your household as this new school year continues. We all are looking forward to a very successful school year for each and every one of our students.

My name is Deborah Etzel and I have been President of the District 220 Board of Education since April of this year.  I plan to do a monthly column for all of the PTO newsletters for the purpose of furthering our Strategic Plan goal of Improving Community & Trust. By providing information about the members of the Board of Education (BOE), what duties we are charged with by the state and what it is we spend our time on, I hope you will be able to construct a comprehensive picture of the District and develop a better understanding of how we all function together.

Who are the Board of Education Members?

The BOE is made up of seven members elected by the residents of District 220 for four-year terms. There is no salary for school board members, we are elected volunteers. There is an election every other year (in odd years) and 3 or 4 members must either run for re-election or step-down. Our elections are always in the spring.  In April 2003, we seated three new board members. Once the elected officials have taken office, the group of seven elects its officers.

The current BOE members are:

Brian Battle, Jeff Church, Judy Freeman, Jeannie Hanson,

Jeff Nordquist, Sam Oliver, and Deb Etzel.

The first three are the newly elected officials and Sam was appointed to fill Dr. Tom Tonniges’ seat when he resigned mid-term. These seven people are charged with a very specific set of duties by the State of Illinois and through this column I hope to acquaint you with these tasks and what they mean to our students, parents, staff and community.

What Does the Board of Education Do?

The Constitution of the Sate of Illinois states that all children will be provided a free and appropriate education and Illinois charges local school boards with the job of accomplishing that duty on a local level. Illinois allows school boards to levy property taxes to make up any difference between what the State gives the district and what the community decides is the best education for its students.

All the duties of the BOE relate to insuring that that appropriate education takes place. That sounds very simplistic but believe me this job is anything but simplistic. Generally speaking, the BOE must decide to whom, for what purpose and at what cost, in a manner that is fair to all involved and that obeys all of the laws of Illinois and the United States.

There are six foundational principals of effective governance for school boards and over the school year this column will explore each one and describe how it relates to our day to day lives in District 220.