Fifteen people apply for St. Charles School Board vacancy

Fifteen people have applied for the newly created vacancy on the St. Charles School Board.

The vacancy was created after St. Charles School Board member Carolyn Waibel submitted her resignation. Waibel cited “unrelenting harassment” by community members in announcing her resignation.

Those interested in serving on the board had until Monday to submit an application. Those applying for the post include: Mitch Bridges, Bryan Earl, Jeffrey Garrison, Christine Heck, Jake Hill, Carl King, Matthew Kuschert, Sean McAdams, Elias Palacios, John Pontarelli, Jennifer Schuh, Saurab Sood, Kelly Taylor, Charlie Uchill and Steven Wiersum.

Candidates will be sent a written questionnaire, which must be turned in by 4:30 p.m. Nov. 1 to the district. The full applications will be posted on the district’s website, d303.org, by November 2.

On Nov. 8, board members will go into closed session to determine what candidates should be interviewed for the position. Candidate interviews will be held in open session starting at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 22.

Each candidate interview will be approximately 20 minutes long. The person selected to fill the post will be seated at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 29 in a special board meeting. That person will fill the seat until the next consolidated election, which is April 4, 2023.

Waibel said she believes the harassment began because of her stance on COVID-19 mitigation measures.

“I was vocal about following the mandate because it’s the right thing to do to follow policy,” Waibel had said. “But it’s certainly gone past following the mask and quarantine policy at this point. It’s very personal. So I really have no idea any more.”

Waibel said she thinks some of the harassment is related to her desire to make sure that any discussion of issues remains civil.

“I have tough discussions about parameters and boundaries and what appropriate behavior is,” she said. “And there’s a particular group of parents that don’t care for that. They believe in a boundary less style.”

Waibel was first elected to the School Board in April 2017 and was reelected this spring. During a recent St. Charles School Board meeting, she described some of that harassment to her fellow school board members.

“Someone has harassed me in my face walking into meetings when I was on a walker, I’ve had dead animals thrown into my driveway, my house has been vandalized, I’ve been followed and videotaped in a grocery store shopping with my son, my home was broken into, my car was vandalized and these people continue to libel me,” Waibel said during the pubic comment period of the meeting.

The Kane County Chronicle has filed a Freedom of Information request to obtain police reports she filed with the St. Charles Police Department.