The Proviso Township High School District released a statement Friday asserting the school board’s commitment to organizing an inclusive and effective fundraising organization to replace the volunteer effort that was abolished by the board on July 30.
Though no meetings have been scheduled yet, the school board said it intends to open the meetings of the District Foundation to the public. Guidelines for selecting a board of directors for the foundation are still being crafted, according to the district.
“The intent of the board of education is to have the official district foundation up and running as quickly as possible,” the statement said, in part.
Previously, the superintendent had chosen community members to sit on a steering committee that would appoint a board of directors. Just days before voting to disband that committee, the school board questioned why it had not been included in the selection process. Members of the disbanded committee, and a consultant hired by the board to work with the group, said it was important for any fundraising effort to remain independent of the board of education. That group was scheduled to announce the foundation’s board of directors on Aug. 21, according to former members, after working on the project since November of last year.
The consultant hired to assist the volunteer group was also dismissed by the board. Staff and an attorney with Dist. 209’s legal counsel are organizing the new effort.
