SAUK VILLAGE | Consolidated School District 168 board President Suzzanne Arnold has announced her resignation, effective Dec. 1.
Arnold shared her decision with school district officials and village residents last week.
“There is quite a lot going on in my life right now,” Arnold told The Times in a telephone interview. “I need to step back and take time for other things going on. After careful consideration, I decided that I needed to give up my position on the School Board.”
Arnold was first appointed to the School Board in August 2006. She was elected in 2007, and re-elected in 2011. Her peers voted her as president after her re-election.
Vice President Mary Howard will assume the top position until the April 2013 election. The new School Board will then reorganize and decide on a president in May.
“I have a lot of fond memories and a lot of pride in what we have accomplished,” Arnold said. “One of the things I am very proud of is getting the bus turnaround constructed at Wagoner School. The safety of the children was an issue, and we took care of it. I take a lot of pride in that.”
Arnold also said that keeping the school district in good financial shape was a source of pride.
“Our school district is in very good shape financially,” Arnold said. “We paid off our debt, and have a very healthy reserve fund balance.”
Arnold served as president during the tenure of former Superintendent Rudy Williams and was instrumental in bringing on current Superintendent Al Travaglini.
One controversial decision during her tenure was not renewing Rickover Jr. High School Principal Julie Iverson's contract. The decision brought outraged teachers who objected to the decision at multiple board meetings.
Arnold is the second board member to resign this year. Angela Cox, who was just elected to the School Board in 2011, resigned after accepting an employment opportunity outside of the state.
In other district news, the board also approved a $15,432 contract with H-O-H Water Technology. The company will provide four water fountains and two water coolers at each school that are purified by reverse osmosis.
The decision was made to provide safe water to the students in light of the recent well water problems in the village.
Vinyl chloride was detected in the well water in July. The issue has since been resolved by the Illinois EPA. The school district, however, decided to provide their own measure of security to the water system.
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