How Burr Ridge District 180 Filled A Vacancy

BURR RIDGE, IL – Earlier this month, Burr Ridge School District 180 board filled a vacancy.

On July 24, board member Marquitta Harris emailed her colleagues that she would resign that day. Her email was 2½ hours before the board's monthly meeting, which Harris attended.

In the email, Harris said she was moving outside the district and thus was no longer eligible to serve.

She said it had "been a pleasure working with all of you in servicing the Willowbrook Corner Community." That is a low-income neighborhood in an unincorporated area next to southwest Burr Ridge.

The board's policy is to post an announcement of a vacancy. Through a public records request, the board produced its announcement. Patch could not find it on the district's website. In an email, Superintendent Charlie Kyle said he pulled the announcement from the website.

The district produced letters of interest for the position from Antoinette Treadway and Amber Webber. The board ultimately chose Treadway, who was sworn in Sept. 11.

In an Aug. 6 letter, Treadway, who is in nursing school and a foster parent, said she had been in the community for a dozen years.

"I have seen many areas of opportunities," Treadway said. "I love what's been done and realize we have so far to go within our community."

Webber, who manages a Walgreens, said in an Aug. 7 email that she has attended board meetings and worked with the DuPage County Sheriff's Office to support change in the community.

She said she was prepared to support the four goals for the coming year: improve student achievement, create a safe and productive environment, serve all students' needs and improve efficiency in management.

District 180 is one of the area's smaller districts, with about 450 students. Its neighbors have low percentages of low-income students, while District 180's is at 87 percent. In June, a mass shooting in the low-income neighborhood shook the district.

In July, the board hired Kyle as the superintendent. He makes $190,000 a year. He replaced the retiring Thomas Schneider, who pulled in a nearly $300,000 salary after 17 years at the helm.

School board members in Illinois are unpaid.