During the Third Quarter Report Card Pick-up Day April 14, elections took place for new LSC members, and only two of the 11 elected former members were voted back in. Many are crediting the large change in members to the eight month long gridlock that ended up in CPS headquarters choosing the principal.

Local School Councils, which were created in 1988 with the Chicago School Reform Act, started as way for parents, teachers and the community to have more control over schools.     The LSC is comprised of one student, six parents, two teachers, one non-teacher staff member, two community members and the principal. According to the CPS website, the three main responsibilities of the LSC are developing budget, creating and maintaining a School Improvement Plan, and selection and evaluation of the school principal.

Newly-elected parent representative Ben Wong was worried about the direction of the LSC, and decided to run.

“I watched a splintered Lane Tech LSC from afar last year and was disenchanted by their inability to work as a cohesive group,” Wong said.  “I felt helpless and didn’t want to have that feeling again.”

One of the re-elected members who was thrown in the midst of the principal selection chaos was student representative Colman Adams Div. 778. Adams ran unopposed for the student nomination.

“I wanted to run so I could represent students interests’ towards the administration,” Adams said. “We have a lot of financial difficulties, and I felt I could best serve the students voice on the LSC.”

Adams was not alone in this sentiment. Ms. Whittaker, the Biology Department Chair, won one of the teacher positions on the LSC.

“I just want to make sure that when we do have something that includes everybody, that we are making sure that lots of people are happy, and that everyone’s voices are being heard, and not just the voices of the loudest,” Whittaker said.

Both Adams and Whittaker said they want to increase communication with the Lane community, as they both felt that communication was one of the larger problems with the principal selection process.

“I got a lot of questions from students,” Adams said. “No one knew what was really going on.”

Outside agendas are what many believed cause the delay in principal selection.

“The political dynamics on the LSC are fun to say the least,” Adams said. “An LSC can’t really function if it’s not working cohesively.”

Another newly-elected parent representative Anne Lokken who ran against eight other parents, pointed out her lack of ulterior motives as one of her main points in her campaign.

“I have no personal agenda. I am open to input from parents and other Lane stakeholders,” Lokken said. “As a parent representative, I think it is important that I actually represent the larger parent population.”

Communication seemed to be a main focus of most of the candidate’s goals on the LSC.

“It is critical for the LSC to consider the opinions of school administrators and teachers who are in the building every day,” Lokken said.

Other lingering projects, such as installing lights in the parking lot, will also be on the table for the newly elected LSC, who will start their terms on July 1.