On Oct. 12, Carolyn Waibel resigned from the D303 School Board. This is the second time within the last year that a board member has resigned. Michael Bryant resigned on Jan. 11, 2021 and his position was filled by current member Joseph Lackner. 

Choosing a new board member starts with notifying the Regional Office of Education (ROE). Once the ROE is notified, the board “goes about the process that we’ve established, which is to put it out to the community, seeking interested parties,” said Jillian Barker, president of the D303 School Board. 

St. Charles community members may then submit applications to be considered for the position. “They will then send back their resume and a letter of interest or a cover letter,” Barker said. 

Once the applications are received, all candidates are sent written questions. The deadline for candidate answers was Nov. 1 and candidates’ responses are publicly accessible here. The board members have reviewed the responses, looked over resumes and will select the candidates they deem most qualified for the position. There is no fixed number of candidates that will move on to the next step. 

On Nov. 22, the in-person portion of the interview will occur at a Special School Board Meeting. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Haines Center.

“Each candidate will be given six or seven questions… they’ll have between 20 and 30 minutes apiece to answer those questions,” Barker said. 

The questions will be similar to those asked in January after Bryant resigned. The interviewees will be asked questions like “What’s bringing you to be a candidate?… Why do you want to do this?… What are you bringing to the table? They will have a chance to “talk a little bit about themselves,” Barker said. 

Candidates will have the opportunity to talk about their qualifications and community experience. There are no required qualifications, but past experience is considered in the decision process. 

The selected candidate will be chosen after the interviews in closed session. Unlike board elections, replacement members in the event of resignations will be chosen by the board. 

Although Waibel was re-elected this year and had four years left in her tenure, her successor will only serve two per Illinois state law. The new chosen member will be up for re-election in the next two year election cycle so that “the public does get to vote sooner rather than later,” Barker said. 

The addition of a new member will not affect the board schedule or items discussed by the board.