Filling the District 159 Board of Education Vacancy: What Comes Next?

Following the resignation of former District 159 school board member Frank Ventura on Sept. 16, the board of education is taking on the task of filling the vacant seat.

On Friday, Sept. 30, the board board stopped taking applications from residents seeking to fill the seat and this Friday, Oct. 7, will hold interviews with those who applied for the position.

Following the interview process, which will have all of the applicants interviewed by the entire board one-by-one, the board will make a decision to fill the open seat at its next meeting on Oct. 13 at said board president John Troy.

Troy added that while he isn't sure what other board members are looking for in a new member specifically, he had a general idea of what the board is looking for.

“We're looking at what you'd look for anybody who's running for school board,” Troy said. “They have a passion and a commitment to education. It's pretty general, we're talking about education, do [applicants] have a passion for it, and a commitment to the community.”

Although a schooling referendum has been a hot button issue in Mokena for the past several years, Troy said that whether a person if for or against a referendum will not be one of the criteria for which an applicant is judged.

“No, personally I wouldn't consider that a litmus test for appointing somebody to the board, no,” Troy said.

He added that while he expected the board to be able to come to a consensus on a new member after the interview process, should there be any problems there is a measure in place to ensure the seat is filled.

“If we can't make a decision, which I think we will be able to make a decision, there's always the regional [office] that will make the decision for us,” Troy said.