New Members Seated On Oak Lawn Community High School Dist. 229 Board

OAK LAWN, IL — Oak Lawn Community High School Dist. 229 seated its newest members of the board of education Wednesday during a special meeting. The new members – Matthew Egan, Safaa Zarzour, John Hickey and Vernon Zumhagen were elected during the April consolidated election. Zumhagen ran as a write-in candidate for an open seat.

They will join Robert Loehr, Judy Ott and Edward Wolf on the Dist. 229 board.

“Our board members represent the local voice and vision for our community’s education priorities. They work as a team to support a shared educational mission and vision, and to put in place the policies and leadership that lead to a successful future for our students,” Dist. 229 Superintendent Michael Riordan said in a news release.

School boards maintain a number of duties for the district, including representing the community’s voice for education decisions, the guardianship and expenditure of tax dollars and school funds, and the development and implementation of district policies. The school board also hires the district superintendent and the delegation of authority, and the establishes of district goals and monitoring progress towards those goals. School boards are responsible for maintaining and preserving the buildings, grounds, and other areas of the district that the community has put in their trust.

“School board members are elected volunteers for the district and community. They are not paid. Most hold other jobs and many are raising families,” Riordan said. “I want to thank them for taking on this responsibility and volunteering their time to help the district and to improve outcomes for our students. Well-run schools equate to better educational outcomes, and better educational outcomes and opportunities for our students create a thriving community for all our residents.”

The newly elected school board members were officially sworn-in and took the Oath of Office at the April 26 special meeting. Also, during the meeting, board members elected school board officers and set a time and place for regular board meetings, which are scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m.

The district also bid goodbye and thanked outgoing board members Timothy Burke and Mark Stanislawek for their years of service. Burke has served for the past 12 years, and Stanislawek for the past four years.

A calendar of regularly scheduled District 229 board of education meetings is available here.