May 5, 2021
Three new Board members sworn into office
At the May 4 Board of Education meeting, three new Barrington 220 Board of Education members and one re-elected Board member were sworn into office. New members Erin Chan Ding, Katie Karam and Steve Wang, as well as returning member Sandra Bradford, will all serve four-year terms on the Board. Chan Ding, Karam and Wang replace Penny Kazmier, Gavin Newman and Mike Shackleton.
Erin Chan Ding moved to South Barrington 10 years ago. She has two children, one who attends BMS-Station and one who attends Countryside Elementary School. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she double majored in Journalism and History with a Latin American concentration. She currently works as a freelance journalist for a variety of newspapers, magazines, websites and nonprofits.
Katie Karam was born and raised in Barrington and attended Countryside Elementary, Barrington Middle School, and Barrington High School. After graduating from BHS in 1995, she attended Miami University where she majored in English. She is currently a stay at home mom to her three children who attend BMS-Prairie and Roslyn Road Elementary.
Steve Wang has lived in Barrington since 2013. He has one child who attends Countryside Elementary School. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he studied Corporate Finance and Business Economics, and triple minored in Chinese (language and culture), Latin American Area Studies and European Studies. He currently works as director of finance for the tenth largest nonprofit health care system in the United States.
New Board officers selected
At the May 4 meeting, the Board also voted on its new officers. Board members selected Sandra Bradford to serve as their new Board President. Bradford has been on the Board of Education since 2009, previously serving as Vice-President and Secretary. Leah Collister-Lazzari will serve as the new Vice-President and Barry Altshuler will serve as the new Secretary. Both were elected to the Board in 2019.
Community says goodbye to three Board members
At the May 4 Board meeting, the Barrington 220 community said goodbye to outgoing Board members Gavin Newman, Penny Kazmier and Mike Shackleton.
 
Newman and Shackleton both joined the Board in 2017 and served on various Board committees throughout their four year term. Kazmier joined the Board in 2005, serving as Vice-President from 2006-2019 and President from 2019-2021. During her time on the Board, Barrington 220 received 8 of 11 National Blue Ribbon Awards, added nearly a dozen innovative district programs, passed a $4.4 million referendum to build Barrington Community Stadium, implemented new start times at all grade levels, passed a $147 million referendum to fund facility upgrades at all school buildings, maintained a balanced budget each year and has earned a AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor's for the past 13 years.
Many former Board members attended the meeting to celebrate the outgoing Board members. Pictured: Wendy Farley, Cara Richardson, Brian Battle, Penny Kazmier, Joe Ruffolo, Jeff Church and Sam Oliver
Board to discuss proposed Virtual/Blended program for 2021-22 school year at next meeting
At the May 4 meeting, Board members listened to a presentation that shared the results of the questionnaire regarding the proposed Virtual/Blended Program for the 2021-22 school year. About 60% of Barrington 220 families responded to the questionnaire and families were told that if they didn't respond they would be counted as not interested in participating in the program. The results show that 4.8% of respondents said they were interested in participating in the proposed program for the entire 2021-22 school year. The Board will be discussing the options for the proposed program at its next meeting on May 18.