District 112 School Board President Michael Cohn Resigns

HIGHLAND PARK, IL - North Shore School District 112 board president Michael Cohn resigned from his post in a letter addressed to the board during its first meeting of 2017.

Cohn was not present for the meeting, which was a special meeting called to officially delay the district's plan to close four schools. The plan, referred to by the community as "BDR3," was permanently scrapped by a unanimous vote of the board. At a previous meeting it was indicated the plan would be merely delayed for a year.

Cohn took exception to the decision to scrap BDR3 in his resignation statement.

"Throwing away $5 million in operational savings annually, plus potentially millions more on maintenance, sounds like criminal mismanagement to me," Cohn said in the statement, reported by the Highland Park News. "We have seen community members sue the district for frivolous reasons, but the decision not to pursue (school closings) certainly seems to be a truly legitimate reason for a lawsuit."

He said the public criticism of BDR3 has "cemented Highland Park with a reputation that people are entitled, and have learned that screaming and stomping their feet can get them what they want."

Cohn's resignation comes less than a month after another board member, Jacqueline Denham, resigned from her post just months before it was up for election.

Read More: District 112 Seeks Interim Board Member to Replace Jacqueline Denham

That leaves just five members of a seven-member board left intact.

Cohn's term expires in April 2019.

Patch file photo / Tim Moran