Ex-Pleasantdale D107 Leader Stays In Education

BURR RIDGE, IL – The former president of the Pleasantdale School District 107 board left that role a few years ago.

But Arlene Cabana, a Burr Ridge resident, remains in the education field as a lawyer.

A year ago, Cabana lost in her race for a spot on the Lyons Township High School board. In her campaign, she received the endorsements of the elected leaders of Burr Ridge, Indian Head Park, Countryside and Willow Springs.

Since then, she has been hired with the Evergreen Park-based Odelson, Murphey, Frazier & McGrath law firm, which specializes in school and municipal law.

In early 2023, while Cabana was Pleasantdale's president, the high school's secret plan to sell 70 acres next to Pleasantdale Elementary to an industrial developer became known.

The high school board had met repeatedly behind closed doors about the land, sessions that the attorney general later found to violate the state's open meetings law.

"The potential impact on students and our community was a serious concern to our board," Cabana said in a news release this week. "Our board was at the forefront of the opposition, standing side by side with local leaders and our community in the fight to protect the health and safety of the students and community. It was an amazing collaboration that demonstrated the power of a united community."

The board backed down in March 2023.

The experience, Cabana said, led her to run for the high school board.

"The election did not go as planned," Cabana said. "Sitting with that defeat was a difficult but necessary lesson, one that eventually taught me how things have a way of unfolding exactly as they are meant to in the end."

Two months later, Cabana started practicing law with the Odelson firm.

The firm's clients include Hinsdale High School District 86 and Lyons School District 103.

"It turned out to be a 'full circle' moment that was hard to see coming at the time," Cabana said. "My experience serving as a school board member provides me with a unique perspective that allows me to approach client matters with a practical understanding of the issues faced by school boards and administrators."