The Board of Education (BOE) sets policy. It does not run the schools. The BOE hires the Superintendent, with input from adminstrators, staff and other stakeholders, to implement policy and manage the day-to-day operations of the schools. As part of policy setting, the BOE also addresses and plans the implementation of state mandates (e.g. Common Core Curriculum) and adheres to applicable regulations, such as the Open Meetings Act, which limits the manner in which issues are deliberated and resolved to promote transparency.
What does the North Shore School District 112 Board of Education do?
The NSSD112 Board of Education (BOE) is a governing body consisting of seven elected community members from Highland Park and Highwood. Elections are held every two years; members serve 4-year terms, unless a seat opens up unexpectedly.
The BOE, “sits in trust for its entire local community,”[1] to set policy, make decisions and approve actions; its powers are granted by the Illinois School Code. The BOE sets policy; it does not run the schools. One of its most important jobs is to hire the Superintendent, with input from administrators, staff and other stakeholders, to implement policy and manage the day-to-day operations of the schools.
As part of policy setting, the BOE also addresses and plans the implementation of state mandates (e.g., Common Core Curriculum). The BOE works with the Superintendent in the management of a business; however this business is a public entity that is bound by specific and enforced laws. Hiring and firing employees is regulated by law; hiring contractors is regulated; the process of outsourcing work is regulated; how the BOE works together is limited by stipulations in the Open Meetings.
What is the time commitment for serving on the North Shore School District 112 Board of Education?
There is no set list of responsibilities for BOE members. The BOE functions as a unit: no one person singly represents the BOE and, though the BOE has power, individual members do not. If one were to summarize responsibilities of individual members, one might broadly say: learn, think, act and communicate. Extensive detail is provided in our Job Description document, but a very high level summary is in the table below:
I would like to run as a candidate for the North Shore School District 112 Board of Education. What do I need to do?
| Responsibility | Tasks | Estimated Time |
| Learn | Learn protocols, laws, financial processes and etiquette of serving on the BOE | 4+ hrs |
| Review policies, presentations | 2-5 hrs/BOE mtg | |
| Think/Act | COW meetings (Closed Session) | 1.5-2 hrs |
| Business Meetings (Open Session) | 2-4 hrs | |
| Committee meetings | 1-2 hrs/month | |
| Communicate | Emails, phone calls, individual meetings | 1-10 hrs/week |
To run for office, a potential candidate must follow a regulated, multi-step process to “file”. It begins with “picking up an application packet” which is available at the Lake County Clerk’s office in Waukegan.
Each candidate must file an application packet with the Lake County Clerk in Waukegan.[2] The packet must contain the following three documents:
(1) Nominating petition sheets, upon which the voter signatures are collected (Form P-7);
(2) Statement of candidacy nonpartisan (Form P-1A); and
(3) Receipt for the filing of the candidate’s Statement of Economic Interests (Form I-107A).
The first two forms are contained in the Candidate’s Guide 2017, State of Illinois Board of Elections[3]. The third is available on the website of the Lake County Clerk[4]. Each form submitted must provide as the Office the 4-YEAR TERM OF THE DISTRICT 112 BOARD OF EDUCATION.
Nominating Petition Sheets
Signatures are to be collected using Form P-7, available at the back of the Candidates Guide 2017. Each petition sheet must correctly identify the name of the Office as the 4-YEAR TERM OF NORTH SHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT 112 BOARD OF EDUCATION.
The candidate must collect for submission the signatures of a minimum of 50 individuals or 10% of the population of Highland Park and Highwood, whichever is less, who are registered to vote within the boundaries of District 112. Any circulator of petition sheets must be at least 18 years of age and a citizen of the United States.
All signatures and information provided must be legible, and must be entered in the presence of the person responsible for circulating the petition. The petition circulator should also ensure that any signatory is signing only for her or himself. Traditionally, potential candidates seeking Caucus endorsement provide petitions to the Caucus so that caucus members can sign petitions for candidates receiving endorsements.
Each petition sheet should be consecutively numbered. Upon completion, the circulator must sign each petition sheet before a notary public
Statement of Candidacy
The application packet must also include a Statement of Candidacy (Nonpartisan) (Form P-1A). The Office should, again, be identified as the 4-YEAR TERM OF THE NORTH SHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT 112 BOARD OF EDUCATION.
Statement of Economic Interest
Each candidate must file a Statement of Economic Interest (Form I-107A) in person with the Lake County Clerk. The form must identify the Office as the 4-YEAR TERM OF THE NORTH SHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT 112 BOARD OF EDUCATION. The receipt showing the date of filing of the Statement filed with the County Clerk must then be submitted with the complete application packet.
The required forms should be stapled or bound together using two- or three-hole punch clips. All pages of the packet must be consecutively numbered.
A candidate’s application packet must be filed with the Lake County Clerk during the required period. For the April 2017 elections, the period for filing applications to be on the ballot was between Monday, December 12 and Monday, December 19, 2016. Candidates’ names are placed on the ballot in the order in which the application packets are filed with the Clerk.[5]
Please note contributions and expenditures made in support of or in opposition to a candidate or candidates are subject to reporting requirements as set forth in the Guide to Campaign Disclosures by the State of Illinois Board of Elections[6].
How do I seek Caucus endorsement for the North Shore School District 112 Board of Education candidacy?
After deciding to run for office, a candidate may seek Caucus endorsement. Applications for Caucus endorsement are generally available in late November. The endorsement application is one product of the Caucus that will be convened in October. Candidates will have roughly one week to complete and return the application for endorsement. They are then invited to present themselves to the Caucus on a day in early December; their presentations will be followed by a brief Question and Answer session. The caucus will then meet in private to determine whether to endorse up to four candidates for the four open seats.
[1] Guide to Recruiting School Board Candidates; Illinois Association of School Boards; p. 2
[2] Nonpartisan Candidates Board of Education Filing Information Courtesy Packet, Carla N. Wyckoff Lake County Clerk, available online at https://www.lakecountyil.gov/documentcenter/view/14312
[3] Illinois State Board of Elections Candidates Guide (2017): https://www.elections.il.gov/Downloads/ElectionInformation/PDF/2017CanGuide.pdf
[4] https://www.lakecountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4944
[5] “All petitions filed by persons waiting in line at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of filing, December 12, 2016, and those petitions received in the day’s first mail delivery are deemed “simultaneously” filed….A public lottery determines ballot position when two or more petitions from the same political party are simultaneously filed for the same office.” Nonpartisan Candidates Board of Education Filing Information Courtesy Packet, Carla N. Wyckoff Lake County Clerk
[6] https://www.elections.il.gov/downloads/campaigndisclosure/pdf/campdiscguide.pdf