LTHS Board Member Not Running Again

LA GRANGE, IL – Nine residents are running for three seats on the Lyons Township High School board in the April election.

That includes two incumbents, board President Kari Dillon and member Jill Beda Daniels. Another incumbent, Alison Kelly, did not submit paperwork before Monday's filing deadline.

All seven board members are in their first terms. They serve at large.

Here's the list of who is running for the board (in order of their appearance on the Cook County Clerk's Office's website):

• Tim Albores of La Grange Park – He is the director of student services for high schools in Plainfield District 202. He is also a member of the La Grange Park Board of Police Commissioners. He unsuccessfully ran for the school board in 2021. "What inspired me to run for the school board again was my faith and commitment to our community. I feel as though my knowledge and experience working in schools most of my life lends itself to advocating for the highest standards for our students and community. Additionally, my experience providing social-emotional learning to a large district will be an asset to our community," Albores said in an email to Patch.
• Tim Vlcek of La Grange Park – He is the president of the Protein Profit Group, according to his Facebook page. He went to Lyons Township High School.
• Kari Dillon of Indian Head Park – She has been the school board president since 2019.
• Jill Beda Daniels of La Grange – She is an attorney. She was elected to the board in 2019.
• Jill Van Himbergen of Western Springs – She is raising three boys in Western Springs, with her oldest set to attend the high school next year. She also taught in the school's English department for a semester in 2019. She is raising her boys full time now. In 2016, her family moved to Western Springs from Cincinnati. "We chose this area in large part because we heard such wonderful things about the schools. After living here and teaching at LT, I can confirm that we are blessed with wonderful schools, and I care deeply about keeping them that way as my three boys grow up in them," she said in a Facebook message to Patch.
• Gina Sirchio-Lotus of La Grange – She is a doctor at the LG Institute of Health, according to her LinkedIn page. She is a 1994 graduate of Lyons Township High. She has a freshman at the school and three more in the district. "I’m very proud of LT and want to give back to the students, faculty and parent community. I hope to bring a sincere platform of serving as many of our district’s students as best as we can before they launch into their adult lives," she said in an email to Patch.
• Justin Clark of La Grange – He is the associate principal of Eisenhower High School in Blue Island.
• David Herndon of La Grange – He is a former school board member in La Grange School District 105. He is also the vice president of marketing operations for Nuveen, according to his LinkedIn page.
• Frank Evans of La Grange – He is a financial adviser specializing in pension plans. He has lived in La Grange since 1999. His daughter graduated from the high school in 2021; his son is a junior there. "I feel over the past few years the school has strayed from its core mission of providing a safe and inclusive space for students to learn. I’m running to help guide the school back to fundamentals so that it will continue to prepare our children for success," he said in a statement.

The election is April 4. In Illinois, school board members are unpaid.