Mike Perlman for District 113 Board: Letter

Mike Perlman would be a terrific addition to the Township High School District 113 Board of Education, and I write today to give him my enthusiastic support. I am a Deerfield resident with two of my three kids at Deerfield High School. I have known Mike for more than a decade and have worked with him closely at our synagogue.

Mike has several qualities that will make him an excellent advocate for the students and residents of District 113. First, Mike has a strong business background (he has an MBA and owned successful Gymboree Play & Music franchises at Northbrook Court and Old Orchard) and will apply his business sense to his work on the Board. Even when we worked together on synagogue committees, Mike always considered the financial impact of our decisions. Finances weren’t always the driving force, but Mike made sure that the financial consequences were understood and weighed in the decisions we made.

This directly relates to a second important quality that Mike would bring to the Board -- he speaks his mind even when it’s not popular. Mike was an important source for independent and reasoned analysis, even if it meant telling someone something he or she didn’t necessarily want to hear. In my opinion, Mike’s independence and no-nonsense approach would be one of his greatest assets on the Board.

His third quality I want to highlight is that he understands Deerfield and Highland Park and has been a member of the Highland Park High School community for over four years. His son graduated HPHS last year and his daughter is a freshman there now. He has lived in Highland Park for over 15 years and his synagogue (and many of his friends) are in Deerfield. So, he is attuned to the different issues faced by both communities.

Mike Perlman would serve our community well as a member of the District 113 School Board, and I strongly encourage you to vote for him in the election on April 2.

Sam Cole
Deerfield