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6 file for Highland Park D112
Updated: December 28, 2012 1:56PM
HIGHLAND PARK — A former member of the North Shore District 112 School Board has become the sixth candidate to file for one of four open seats on the seven-member Board of Education.
Joan Herczeg, who served on the school board from 1999 to 2007, is running for a seat in the April 9 election along with two first-term incumbents and three other challengers. The filing period closed Dec. 26.
Incumbents Howard Metz and Jane Solmor-Mordini are seeking second terms and have the backing of the North Shore District 112 Caucus. Two of the four challengers also were endorsed by the caucus following interviews on Dec. 1. They are Paul Helwing Tatelli, who is making a second run for the board, and Karla Livney.
Both Tatelli, an Oak Terrace School parent, and Livney, a Ravinia and Edgewood school parent, are currently serving on the 60-member Superintendent’s Citizen Finance and Facilities Advisory Committee which is examining district finances, the optimal number of school buildings and grade level configurations.
The candidates who appeared before the caucus, but were not endorsed, are Samantha Stolberg and Herczeg.
Caucus chair Dan Weil said that to receive caucus endorsement, a candidate needed favorable votes from two-thirds of the 53 voting delegates. The caucus is comprised of five voting delegates from each of the district’s 11 schools. Each school also can have up to five members serving as non-voting alternates.
Weil said candidates were asked about their qualifications and views on issues such as enrichment programs, the dual language program, district finances and the challenges the district is presently facing with respect to finances and facilities.
“For way too many years, it was incredibly easy to become elected to the school board,” said Weil. “We need qualified people knowing what they are getting into, understanding the level of commitment required and running without an agenda.”
Two first-term incumbents whose terms expire in May, Marcia Bogolub and Cynthia Plouche, decided earlier not to seek reelection. The reconstituted District 112 School Board will convene in May just as the three subcommittees of the superintendent’s task force are wrapping up their work. The subgroups are looking at finances, facilities and school configuration models.
