The Highland Park Board of Education is expected Monday, September 15, to fill the vacancy created last month upon the resignation of board member Ruth Beyer.
As of Friday, three residents, Allison Casal-Dunn, Marilyn Pruce, and Rob Scott, have submitted letters of interest to succeed Beyer. Board members are expected to interview each candidate and then appoint one of three individuals that same evening.
The selected candidate will serve through 2021 and would have to run for reelection in November 2021 to continue service on the board.
Beyer, who was most recently elected to a three-year term in 2018, is currently in her second term on the school board. A public school teacher and parent of children in the Highland Park Public Schools, Beyer first ran for the Highland Park Board of Education in 2015, and was elected alongside with former board member Sharice Richardson, and Rob Magaziner.
During her tenure, Beyer chaired the board’s Curriculum & Instruction Committee, the Equity and Excellence Committee, the Personnel and Communications Committee, and was the liaison to the Special Education Parent Advisory Council.
At the time of her initial candidacy, Beyer said:
“I am new to politics, but over the past two years, I have felt the pull to civic duty, just as so many of our neighbors have as well. I am ready to share my knowledge of best practices in all areas of education, but even more importantly, I’m ready to listen and collaborate to ensure that our schools continue to grow and change in positive ways, ways that can benefit ALL in our community.”
In other school board news, three incumbents, Board President Anne Gowen, Michelle McFadden-DiNicola, and Rob Roslewicz, will run for reelection this November. They were first elected to the board in 2015.