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Pictured above: Dr. Gregory Harris and Tracy Weiner
The Board also recognized and thanked outgoing Board member Tracy Weiner and former Board member Dr. Gregory Harris for their service.
Ms. Weiner served the District 58 Board of Education for six years. As a Board member, she chaired the District Leadership Team and participated on the Policy Committee. During and prior to her Board service, she kept engaged with District 58 by serving on the Superintendent’s Community Advisory Council, Curriculum Council, Meet & Confer Strategic Plan Committee, and the Puffer-Hefty PTA.
“There’s no one more engaged than you. No one. You’re never afraid to ask a question. Never afraid to say, ‘I don’t understand what this is about,’ and that’s not easy to do. You’re always putting kids first,” said Member Emily Hanus. “You will be missed.”
Member Steve Olczyk reflected on Ms. Weiner’s ability to always provide candid feedback and to keep the team on track. He also shared how Ms. Weiner impressed him with the amount of time she put into educating herself on all relevant Board topics, as well as with her perseverance and drive to put ideas into action.
“Out of all the wonderful things you’ve done over the years for the district, the one thing that I want people to remember is: Tracy Weiner is someone who will step in and do something,” Member Olczyk said.
Ms. Weiner gave a heartfelt speech thanking her fellow board members, as well as the District 58 administration, staff, community and her family for their support, hard work and dedication.
She reflected on the Board’s accomplishments over the last six years, which included navigating a global pandemic, updating all curriculum and establishing a curriculum review calendar and budget, and selling the dilapidated 93-year-old Longfellow building. She also reflected on the District’s partnership with the Village to build the new Civic Center, which made operations more efficient and saved taxpayers millions of dollars. She also recalled how the Board asked the community to support a $179 million referendum to improve all 13 schools; the referendum passed successfully in November 2022. Finally, she shared how the Board put financial guardrails in place to set the District up for future financial success.
“I’m most proud about how this Board worked together and modeled good governance,” Ms. Weiner said. “I hope the spirit of collaboration, respect and family that we’ve built together continues because I believe it is a very powerful thing and it should never be taken for granted.”
Dr. Harris served the District 58 Board of Education for nearly eight years. He resigned last January to pursue the District’s open assistant superintendent for business position. His strong education, administration and school business experience led District 58 to hire him for this position, and he will begin this summer. During his Board of Education tenure, Dr. Harris served as the Board’s vice president and also chaired the Board’s Policy Committee and acted as the Board liaison to the Health & Wellness Committee.
As a District 58 Board of Education member, Dr. Harris focused on fiscal sustainability and helped District 58 move from a deficit budget to a balanced budget, and advocated for the District to develop a five-year financial plan, a 35% fund balance policy, annual capital fund transfers, and other measures to improve District 58’s financial position.
“The eight years that we served together really showed to be an incredible time of growth in this district, and I can’t imagine it being such a smooth process had you not been a part of it. I want to thank you for all the time you’ve put on the Board,’ said President Darren Hughes.
“You were the one who would always provide guidance and extremely valuable thoughts for me, especially when I was new. Thank you,” said Vice President Kirat Doshi.
Other Board members echoed these sentiments and shared how they look forward to working with Dr. Harris in his new role with District 58.
The Board received two public comments -- one from Ms. Weiner’s sister, and the other from a DGEEA representative -- thanking the outgoing Board members for their service.
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