Who is Running for School Board at District 73.5?

District 73.5 serves three schools: Meyer, Middleton and McCracken. There are five people running to fill four four-year terms and one to serve a two-year term. Elections are April 9.  

Also, on Thursday, March 21, candidates will participate in a community forum in the Multi-Purpose Room at Oliver McCracken Middle School, 8000 East Prairie Road. Each candidate will share remarks and respond to written questions from the audience.

Katherine Lockerby

Lockerby is running to finish the last two years of an unexpired term, to which she was appointed in July 2012. She and her husband have a 3-year-old son and daughter in kindergarten.

Lockerby said, “I would like to see the district continue to employ top-notch teachers and staff, while providing an excellent educational environment that fosters curiosity in the children.”

Sally A. Graham

Graham is a teacher at District 219 and has four children at Middleton. She has volunteered in the classrooms, chaperoned field trips and participated in the Readers Are Leaders program.

As a teacher, Graham said she has seen dramatic changes in education and knows what students need to succeed in high school.

“I have experience in education and would like to be more involved in the process,” she said. “Issues of school safety, testing, meeting learning targets and changing issues in technology are certainly ones which the board will be addressing in the next few years.”

Natalie Izquierdo-Tsagaroulis

A district resident for 30 years, Tsagaroulis has three children at Middleton. She has been a classroom volunteer and enjoys helping at Pumpkin Night, book and recycling fairs and in the Meyer garden.

As her children get older and she spends less time in the classroom, she wants to continue her involvement.

“I think some of the major issues the board will deal with include maintaining high educational standards, assuring technical resources for teachers and students, fiscal planning and providing a safe, secure and positive environment.”

Gary Dolinko

A resident for 12 years, Dolinko has volunteered at district events such as the Gus Pausz Walk-a-Thons, PTA Fun Fairs and foundation auctions. He is a founding member of Skokie Voice, too. He and his wife have one son who will graduate from Niles North and another in 8^th grade at McCracken.

Concerned for years about funding, Dolinko worked on the 2004 District 73.5 property tax referendum, and has continued to work for educating funding reform in Illinois. If elected, he wants to work on closing the achievement gap, keep the district fiscally sound, improve technology and “making sure we have the best teachers to guide our children.”

Charlene Abraham

Abraham is running for a second four year term on the board. She and her husband have three sons – a junior at Niles North, a second grader at Middleton and a kindergartner at Meyer.

“Having three kids in the district and experiencing all three buildings has been extremely helpful as a board member,” she said.

Abraham has been a room parent and Language Arts Ambassador.

She believes it is important for district schools to maintain their current level of excellence while looking for ways to improve. She sees funding as a major challenge, she said, adding that “giving back to the community that has provided our children with an excellent education” is important.  

Mark Goldberg

Goldberg has two children at Meyer School and a third who will start preschool there in a few years. He has been a PTA member and classroom volunteer.

“I want to take my involvement in our learning system to the next level,” he said. I want to take a hands-on approach to making the schools safe while maintaining a healthy balance of academics for the older kids and social behavior learning for the younger kids.”

He agrees that finances are one of the biggest challenges the board faces.

“The board and the superintendent need to continuously find ways to collaborate with staff and the community to find ways to challenge our kids to learn more and improve scores.”

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Editor's note: Candidate profiles were provided by Skokie School District 73.5. Patch did not write the bios. We will, however, be at the open forum on March 21. If you have questions you'd like us to ask, please email me at georges@patch.com. Also, special thanks to Randall Steger for providing insight on the election.