Early Voting Underway in Lake Forest

The Lake Forest Caucus reminds all Lake Forest residents that early voting is underway for Mayor, Aldermen, and District 67 and District 115 School Boards. The Caucus encourages all registered voters to research the candidates and make plans to vote.

· In-person early voting is available at Lake Forest City Hall (220 E. Deerpath) Monday, March 22 through Saturday, April 3 (M-F 9:00 am - 5:00 pm and Sat 9:00 am - 2:00 pm)

· There are four other Lake County locations with extended hours and days for in-person early voting.

· If you would like to request a mail-in ballot, you must do so by April 1.

· Election day is Tuesday, April 6. You may vote in-person at your local voting location.

· Please click here for more information on early voting, mail-in ballots, and election day voting locations.

The Lake Forest Caucus has served Lake Forest for over 85 years by identifying, interviewing, and endorsing exceptional candidates for our town’s many boards and commissions. “The Caucus Committee keeps the focus of candidates for office on the truly important issues facing all of Lake Forest,” stated Mayor George Pandaleon. “It has ensured that we benefit from good governance and avoid the pitfalls of a more politicized environment.”

To learn more about the Lake Forest Caucus, please see this important video message from Mayor Pandaleon.

This year, the Caucus is proud to endorse

· George Pandaleon for Mayor

· James “Jed” Morris for Ward 1 Alderman

· Melanie Rummel for Ward 2 Alderman

· Ara Goshgarian for Ward 3 Alderman

· Ray Buschmann for Ward 4 Alderman

For the District 67 School Board, the Caucus is proud to endorse

· Emily Bernahl

· Anne Geraghty Helms

· Carl Kirar

· Alice LeVert

For the District 115 School Board, the Caucus is proud to endorse

· John Venson

· David Burns

· Sally Davis

· Marcus Schabacker

You can learn more about the Caucus-endorsed Student Success 2021 School Board candidates here.

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All of the Student Success 2021 candidates have been steadfast in their support of our schools returning to full-time in-person learning as soon as possible. While District 115 will return to full-time in-person learning on April 5, our District 67 candidates were disappointed in the decision to continue the hybrid model for the remainder of the year but stand fully committed to returning elementary and middle school children full-time in the fall. Current Board members and Student Success 2021 candidates Carl Kirar and Alice LeVert voted to return children to full-time in-person learning and for almost a year have advocated for getting students back into the classroom full-time.

While Lake Forest schools have proudly and safely offered in-person learning throughout this year (when many schools around us did not), we must begin immediate, thoughtful, and creative planning so that we can fully re-open better and stronger in the fall.

Both the District 67 and District 115 School Board races are contested. On March 14, all School Board candidates took part in a Candidate Forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Lake Forest/Lake Bluff. You can watch the event here. District 115 is first and District 67 starts around 1 hour 19 minutes.

The Caucus was honored to have former Lake Forest Mayor Rob Lansing and former Alderman Prue Beidler endorse the Student Success 2021 candidates.

Hear from the Student Success 2021 candidates themselves on why you should vote for them: District 67 and District 115.

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Lake Forest has top-ranked schools with phenomenal teachers and well-rounded, high-performing students. Our schools offer inquiry-based, authentic, and innovative educational experiences for all students, promoting learning opportunities that spark curiosity, interest, and creativity and increase engagement and empowerment. The Districts have strategically invested in staffing models that support differentiated instruction, inclusive practices, executive functioning, and social emotional learning. Students are viewed as whole human beings and our schools take pride in supporting them as engaged and connected members of the school community and in helping them grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally.

In District 67, MAP Math and Reading Achievement Scores for grades 2-8 are consistently 10 points above the national average. Our elementary students can start studying Mandarin in kindergarten and Spanish in second grade, while our Deer Path Middle School students have an impressive four languages to choose from: French, Latin, Mandarin, and Spanish. District 67 offers STEM curriculum throughout grades K-8, and DPM students can choose from a plethora of clubs and activities. For the last two years, District 67 has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation for its outstanding music department. In recent years, numerous impactful facility upgrades have been realized across the District without going to the community for a referendum: reimagining all core classrooms, building out Haskins 2.0 (a 21st-century multipurpose library) at DPM, installing new playgrounds at Cherokee and Sheridan, renovating DPM science labs into state-of-the-art, future-ready learning spaces, and redesigning the entries and front offices of every building, making those spaces more safe and secure and ensuring ADA compliance. District 67 also built an entirely new school (Academics Virtually Achieved, or AVA) for its remote learners this year.

In District 115, 89% of Lake Forest High School students participate in at least one extracurricular activity and can select from 33 athletic opportunities and 50 clubs. Over the past nine years, the High School has moved from 26% of its students accessing AP classes with a pass rate of 90%, to 49% accessing AP classes with a pass rate of 89.7%; the number of students has nearly doubled while the high pass rate has essentially stayed the same. In 2019, LFHS tied New Trier for the highest English SAT score in the state and was among the top schools for the highest math score. In 2020, the LFHS average composite ACT score was a record-high 28, well above the state average (24.7); this composite score puts LFHS in the top 12% in the nation. Nine LFHS students were named National Merit Finalists this year, and 13 students plan to attend Ivy League schools. High School Principal Chala Holland was recently named the Lake Region High School Principal of the Year, and last year she was honored as Educational Leader of the Year by the UIC College of Education.

The strength of our schools is also reflected in our Districts’ superb financial positions, our AAA bond ratings, and our taxes that are lower than our neighboring towns. And it is reflected in our housing market: the closing two quarters of 2020 were the strongest quarters for real estate in Lake Forest history, according to Berkshire Hathaway.

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Though our schools are strong, the role of the school board should always be to continue to push for the best educational experience for all students, to provide sound fiscal oversight, to support clear and transparent communication, and to listen to parents to address their concerns and work together to find solutions.

The Caucus-endorsed candidates have all demonstrated a capacity for respectful public discourse, thoughtful decision-making, a history of meaningful achievement and experience, and a commitment to serving their community and supporting our schools. The pandemic will pass. We need Board members who can work together to tackle the complex and varied issues that will arise over the next four years.

The Caucus slate was put together as a group of individual thinkers who can navigate our school community out of the pandemic and beyond. The Student Success 2021 candidates will

· work collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure a strong return to full-time in-person learning in the fall, including developing plans to address any gaps (academic, social, emotional) resulting from the pandemic;

· onboard an exceptional superintendent who will lead our schools to new levels of success and who will focus on the interests of everyone involved: students, parents, staff, and the community at large;

· provide efficient communication and increase transparency to keep all stakeholders up to date and informed; and

· continue the strong tradition of practical and professional financial oversight.

Please don’t forget to vote on April 6!

www.lakeforestcaucus.com