District 113 Caucus Endorses 4 Candidates For 5 Open Seats

Four candidates for the Township High School District 113 School Board received endorsements from the District 113 Caucus Wednesday, including two recently appointed incumbents and two newcomers. Five of the seven seats on the board will be on the ballot in April. The caucus did not endorse any candidate for a two-year seat created by a resignation last year. One incumbent, former board president Michelle Culver, sought and did not receive an endorsement from the caucus group.

The District 113 Caucus endorsed incumbents Gayle Byck, of Deerfield and Ken Fishbain of Highland Park. Byck was appointed to fill a vacancy created by Julie Gordon's resignation last year and Fishbain was appointed in June after David Small resigned. The group also endorsed Highland Park residents and District 113 parents Michael Perlman and Daniel Struck.

Seven candidates sought the endorsement of the caucus, the group said. Two other incumbent board members have announced they do not intend to seek another term.

"All of the candidates have children who have graduated or are currently attending Deerfield or Highland Park High Schools," the caucus said in a release. "These four candidates will bring a variety of skills to the Board and the Caucus believes they will be team players – respectful, good listeners and active in the community."

Perlman is the former owner of Gymboree Play & Music franchises, the co-chair of Focus on the Arts Music Committee, and the father of the valedictorian of the Highland Park High School class of 2018 and a current first-year student. Struck is an insurance lawyer who has chaired the North Shore District 112 Caucus and served on the Reconfiguration 2.0 panel and has two children at HPHS and one at Solomon Schechter Day School. Deerfield Public Schools District 109 Board member Jodi Shapira plans to run for the two-year term, Pioneer Press reported.

Culver intends to run for another term on the board without the District 113 Caucus endorsement. She faced questions over a controversial 4-3 vote to hike the pay of the district's former superintendent, Pioneer Press reported. The district paid a $300,000 severance payment as part of a settlement with its former superintendent Chris Dignam in May. Culver voted with the majority to grant Dignam a $45,000-a-year raise to $250,000 and a two-year contract extension after seven months on the job. The board expects to have a new permanent superintendent in place at the end of the 2018-19 school year in July.

The North Shore School District 112 Caucus is conducting interviews with candidates Dec. 2. The Deerfield Public Schools District 109 Caucus is conducting interviews on Nov. 27 and Dec. 6 ahead of issuing its endorsements. The filing period for nominating petitions for the April 2, 2019 consolidated election begins Dec. 10 and runs to Dec. 17.