Kankakee School Board appoints member

KANKAKEE — The vacant seat on the Kankakee School Board left by the death of Deb Johnston will be filled by Cynthia Veronda, a former District 111 principal, teacher and board member.

The board unanimously approved Veronda’s appointment Thursday after interviewing five applicants in closed session.

The board made its decision one week ahead of the deadline to select an appointee before the task would have fallen to the regional office of education, which happens 60 days after a vacancy is created.

Veronda will be sworn in on Monday to serve what might be only a three-month term.

The timing of Johnston’s death in mid-November was on the cusp of the filing deadline for names to appear on the ballot for the April 1 consolidated election.

Anyone interested in filling the unexpired two-year term would need to run as a write-in candidate. Paperwork must be filed with the Kankakee County Clerk by the end of January.

A former teacher and coach in District 111, Johnston had served on the board since 2019, with her term set to expire in 2027.

Veronda was a member of the Kankakee School Board from 1991 to 1995.

She was a teacher at King and Kennedy schools between 1997 to 2012, then a principal at Steuben and Kennedy between 2012 to 2021 and an innovation administrator for the district in 2022 before her retirement.

She is currently an associate professor of education at Olivet Nazarene University.

She also is a 1974 graduate of Kankakee’s former Westview High School.

Board President Chris Bohlen said the board spent close to three hours interviewing the five applicants, then deliberated for about 45 minutes to an hour.

He said all five were “amazingly qualified” and wanted to be on the board for positive reasons.

Veronda stood out as being very knowledgeable about the district, education and a board member’s duties, he said.

“That base of knowledge is helpful for her to hit the ground running,” Bohlen said.

For Veronda, returning to the board is a “full-circle” moment.

During the four-year period she was on the board, ONU started its teaching master of arts program, which Veronda completed.

She had been working as a microbiologist for St. Mary’s Hospital and decided to bring her passion for science into the classroom.

If she had accepted a teaching job in Bourbonnais, where she did her student teaching, Veronda would have tried to stay on the Kankakee board.

She instead decided to return to District 111 to start her career as an educator.

Veronda was not ready to put her name on the ballot this past November, during the formal filing period for the April election.

However, she said she has been impressed so far with the direction and leadership of the district’s new superintendent, Teresa Lance.

She was part of Lance’s transition advisory team.

“I knew Deb. It was a terrible, terrible situation with her death,” Veronda said. “People were encouraging me to apply. I said, ‘I am interested in being a part of where Dr. Lance is leading us.’”

Veronda said she is considering running as a write-in candidate in April, but has to take a bit more time to decide.

Either way, she plans to continue supporting the school district.

“I don’t think I’ll ever leave the community,” Veronda said. “I care deeply for the children and families and people in Kankakee. It is the greatest responsibility as a board member, and to the children, that we make decisions that are going to help students be prepared for when they leave our district post high school, whatever that looks like.”

The board will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at Kankakee High School.

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