Barrington 220 Board of Education Welcomes New Members

Two new school board members and an incumbent officially began their four-year terms at the Barrington 220 Board of Education meeting on May 3, while the two retiring members reflected back on their experiences.

Instead of the traditional raising of the right hand while standing, the oath of office was read by all board members as they remained in their seats. 

Incumbent Brian Battle was the top vote getter in the April 5 election.  In addition to being re-elected to the board, he was also voted to again be president of the school board by fellow board members. This will be his third term on the school board and second as school board president; he was first elected in 2003.  Battle is a 20-year Barrington resident, and is married with two children who attend Barrington schools.

Joseph Ruffolo is one of two newcomers, was also elected to the board. He is a high school science teacher in Leyden Township and has taught for the last 21 years. Ruffolo has been a South Barrington resident for eight years, and is married with three children who attend Barrington schools.  

And by just a vote, Richard Burkhart won the final open seat on the board.  He defeated fellow slate member Thomas Antoine in the race that took until mid-April to officially be decided.  Burkhart is a retired Vice President of Communications from Oracle Corporation.  He has lived in Deer Park for 27 years and is married with two grown children.  

Two other internal school board offices were voted on by board members; Penny Kazmier was voted to again be vice president and Nicholas Sauer the secretary.

Before the new board members were sworn in, outgoing members Cara Richardson and Jeff Church looked back over their experiences on the board.

Richardson was appointed to fulfill an open seat in 2006 and successfully ran for election in 2007.  Though she is leaving after one term, her reflections about serving were only positive.

“I am rewarded by giving back to the community, and a good education is the greatest gift you can give to a child, I feel lucky to have been a part of this board,” Richardson said.

She went on to say that she was always surprised about the impression that being a school board member was ‘too difficult to want to do.’

“Yes there were long meetings and work to do, but I would ask everybody to think about how they can give back to the community,” Richardson said.

Retiring after serving two terms on the board, Jeff Church said he was hopeful that the work done while he served will carry on to the future.

“I think we’ve navigated through some very tough decisions but included the community in those decisions; my advice for new board members is to do anything you can do to engage and involve the community,” Church said.

“Looking back, it’s been one of the best learning experiences of my life and a great opportunity,” Church added.

Each board member then spoke about past experiences and memories, and what they will miss about the two retiring members.

And apparently, the contributions of both Richardson and Church will be missed not only by the board, but the administration as well.

“We may not always have agreed, but it’s always been respectful,” said Dr. Tom Leonard, superintendent. “You both asked tough questions and challenged the administration and I appreciated that tremendously.”