LF_062217

6 | June 22, 2017 | The lake forest leader NEWS
LakeForestLeader.com
Lake Forest High School District 115
New position requires new hires to help improve student absenteeism
Katie Copenhaver
Freelance Reporter
Lake Forest High
School District 115 Board
of Education approved
new hire contracts for the
new educational services
which will help improve
the student absenteeism
and substance abuse during
its meeting on Monday,
June 12.
Patrick Sassen was hired
as director of educational
services for a multi-year
contract and John Maher
(currently a dean at Lake
Forest High School) was
appointed to a one-year
contract as assistant director
of educational services.
The vote for Sassen was
six to one and the vote for
Maher was unanimous,
following an extended discussion
among Principal
Dr. Chala Holland and the
board members.
The one “no” vote for
Sassen came from Board
President Reese Marcusson.
“I didn’t learn about this
hire until last week, Marcusson
said. “It’s unfortunate.
It’s not the way we’re
supposed to do business.
The board needs to be involved
in key hires, so
we’re not blind sided.”
Board member Lise Eliot
also felt blind sided by
the new hire.
“I had the same reaction
as Reese, but I see [the
new position] was on the
organizational chart,” Eliot
said.
Vice President David
Lane said he remembered
talking about the position a
few months ago.
Board Secretary Ted
Moorman questioned
whether this is a new position,
to which Holland
explained it is a retitled
position with a new description.
Holland further explained
that educational
services has been known
as student services, and
the director and assistant
director oversee the high
school’s counselors, social
workers and psychologists.
In making the case for
Sassen, Holland said that
she and her committee are
very impressed with him
and his extensive experience
handling substance
abuse and student absenteeism.
“He has a level of expertise
that will greatly benefit
the district,” she said.
Holland also detailed the
concern about absenteeism
among students.
“We are currently not
following school code,”
Holland said. “We do not
follow proper procedures.
I think it’s a safety issue. It
boils down to being responsible
and accountable [to
parents]. It’s our responsibility
to know who’s in the
building and who’s not.”
While Holland feels
Sassen will help them get
absenteeism under control
she believes it is all of the
staff’s responsibility.
“Our attendance does
not rest on one person,”
she said.
Before casting his opposition
vote, Marcusson
stated, “Ted [Moorman]
and I sign the contract, not
Mike [the superintendent
of the district] or anyone
else. I would have liked to
have had more knowledge
of the candidates.”
2018-19 final exam
schedule change approved
The 2018-19 school
year has been changed
to schedule fall semester
final exams before winter
break, rather than following
it as has been the
practice for many years,
in order to give students a
stress-free holiday.
The board had discussed
this change at previous
board meetings and members
approved it unanimously.
Marcusson raised one
point, “I’m asking this
because I will get questions
from people who see
me at Sunset or elsewhere
around town. Why wait
until 2018-19?”
“We have to honor
our theater program and
athletics,” said Holland,
explaining that many of
those events are scheduled
a year in advance.
Director of communications
contract passes despite
objections
A new contract for Anne
Whipple’s services as the
District’s director of communications
was discussed
by the board at a previous
closed meeting and passed
at the June 12 public meeting
by a four to three vote.
The “no” votes came
from members Eliot, Lane
and Moorman, who acknowledged
that Whipple
is invaluable to the district,
but said they objected
to some of the contract’s
terms.
In support of Whipple’s
retention, member Diana
Kreiling said she supports
the contract, which
increases Whipple’s compensation,
because Whipple
has not had a raise
in the five years she has
been employed by the district.
Member Sally Davis
noted that they have
moved the contract from
10 months to 12 months,
which also makes the case
for the increased compensation.
Davis said that
Whipple’s hard work in
creating and launching the
school’s new website was
one of her most significant
contributions.
Lake Bluff Historic Preservation Commission
Commission continues to review village regulations
Christa Rooks
Freelance Reporter
The Lake Bluff Historic
Preservation Commission
continued its
discussion of historic
preservation regulations
and historic districts at its
regular meeting Wednesday,
June 14.
This discussion was
the third of six planned
discussions following
the Lake Bluff Village
Board’s request that the
commission suggest ways
to strengthen the Historic
Preservation Ordinance.
The commission held
two meetings during the
month of May, during
which they discussed various
changes they would
like to see, including requiring
the homeowner
or a qualified representative
to appear personally
before the Commission
for Advisory Review and
increasing barriers to demolishing
a home. They
also discussed reducing
the work necessary to
landmark a home, implementing
a new outreach
program to homes that
potentially qualified for
landmark status, and establishing
“heritage lots,”
which would allow nonconforming
zoning lots
that are too small under
current regulations to remain
buildable after a
home is demolished.
At Wednesday’s meeting,
the board kicked off
the discussion by weighing
whether they should
participate in design review,
particularly if a historic
district were to be
established or if a historic
home was demolished and
a new home rebuilt in its
place.
After debating the idea,
the commission decided
that it was out of their purview.
“I have a very strong
feeling about this,” Commissioner
Cheri Richardson
said. “I think that we
should not. I think we can
say, we hope you’ll put
something in there... that
fits with the neighborhood
... [but] if we were all architects,
we’d be on the
[Architectural Board of
Review].”
Chairwoman Janet Nelson
agreed, saying she
didn’t have the expertise
to do design review.
The commission then
moved on to discuss
whether they should continue
to review all demolitions
of buildings in the
village that are more than
50 years old. This led them
to consider having the
various areas of the village
mapped and surveyed to
have a fuller picture of the
homes in the village. This
would reduce the number
of homes that would have
to receive consideration
from the HPC before being
demolished because the
village would have previously
identified homes that
were historically or architecturally
significant. Currently
only a small portion
of the village has been surveyed.
While the commission
agreed that they would
like to do more surveying,
they voted not to request to
change the 50-year rule.
“I feel like we’re a
small enough community,
Please see LBHPc, 8