District
108 school board members chose Sherry L. Whitmore Wednesday
to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of veteran
board member Barb Strand.
Board members
announced their choice of Whitmore, a Caterpillar, Inc.
systems analyst who has a daughter in District 108 schools,
after interviewing Whitmore and seven other candidates
in a session closed to the public.
The board
also elected Larry Brees to serve as its president until
it reorganizes in November. Brees was vice president
when Strand, who was the board's president, announced
her resignation two weeks ago.
Brees and
fellow board members Rich Root, Chris Zimmerman, Valerie
Moehle-Umholtz and Mike Tibbs approved Whitmore's appointment,
which will be effective until Strand's unexpired term
ends in 2001. Board member Dean Bacon did not attend
the interview sessions.
Bacon said
earlier the would not attend because he objected to
the method the board was using to select Strand's replacement.
Bacon wanted the board to appoint the losing candidate
with the highest vote total in the March election.
The board
sought letters of interest from those who wished to
fill Strand's position. It was difficult for the public
to know much about the eight who applied -- or even
who they were. District officials and board members
refused to release their names both before and after
the selection was made.
The press
was asked to wait in the cafeteria, where the candidates
could not be seen, as the board conducted the interviews.
Some of the candidates gave their names outside the
district's offices after they had been interviewed;
some did not.
Applicants
identified independently included Keith McArdle, a losing
candidate in the March election, Fred Vogt, Kenneth
"Woody" Good and Sue Barber.
McArdle said
after his interview that the board was very easy to
talk with. "I thought the interview was very fair and
relaxed," McArdle said.
Some said
they did not want to comment, citing the closed interview
sessions. The Illinois Open Meetings Act allows the
board to close the interviews to the public but does
not require it.
"I would
hate to do anything wrong at this point," one candidate,
who would not give his name, said as he left the building.
Whitmore
did not identify herself to the press after her interview
with the board. She could not be reached at home later
for comment. Attempts to reach her by presstime this
morning were unsuccessful.
Whitmore
has a daughter attending a District 108 school, according
to the letter she submitted to the board.
She is a
three-year member of the Jefferson School Leadership
Team. Whitmore also was a leader in the Jefferson School
PTA's project to obtain new playground equipment. She
served three years on her church's education committee,
and served on the Praise and Leadership School's Parents
Advisory Committee.
Whitmore
said in her letter that she supports District 108 strategies,
particularly the integration of technology into the
curriculum.
Tibbs said
Whitmore won the seat after competing with a field of
highly qualified candidates. Zimmerman said he hopes
those interviewed will consider running for the board
in the future.
Vogt has
been a Pekin Community High School teacher and administrator
for the past 33 years. McArdle works for the Tazewell
County Resource Center as vice president of residential
services. Barber is a mother of a District 108 student
and said she is interested in their education.
In the March
election, incumbents Tibbs, Root and Zimmerman were
re-elected.
Losing candidates
were Eleanor Gibbons, who is the Daily Times' advertising
director, with 1,437 votes; McArdle, with 1,297 votes;
and Mike Underwood, with 1,225 votes.
Neither Gibbons
nor Underwood applied for the position.
The district
placed notices asking for letters of interest in newspapers
and on the bulletin board at the schools. The district
also mailed notices to those serving on the district's
leadership teams and mailed invitations directly to
Gibbons and Underwood.
McArdle had
already filed his letter of interest when the others
were mailed out.
