Student Success 2021 candidates full statement on Dr. Holland resignation
It is with much sadness that our community and we, the Student Success 2021 D115 & 67 School Board Candidates, received the news of Dr. Chala Holland’s appointment to become Assistant Superintendent at Naperville School District 203 on July 1, 2021. Dr. Holland has worked tirelessly on behalf of the students of D115, putting in 90+ hour work weeks, implementing a brand new instructional approach of remote teaching/learning, rearranging schedules countless times, encouraging and reassuring students, faculty, staff and parents during an unprecedented pandemic that threatened the health and lives of every single person in our community, and is pulling it all together once again to fully re-open LFHS on April 5th, 2021, for the return to full-time, in-person learning for all students desiring that option. If you watched the LFHS Town Hall meeting held last Thursday night, March 11, you would understand exactly why so many students wanted to return. The care and concern of every LFHS staff member was clearly evident. We are grateful for Dr. Holland’s service, leadership, and the time she spent with us. We wish her all the best as she continues her outstanding career.
LFHS was the first high school in our area to open last fall for hybrid learning. It led the way and set the example for the rest of the North Shore. Our neighbors noticed. As far away as Naperville, they noticed. They came looking for the leadership and guidance displayed at LFHS and Lake Forest Schools. They found it, and they hired it away for themselves. Certainly the pandemic upended business as usual for everyone. As we emerge into a post-COVID 19 world, one of the things that will happen will be the reward and recognition of those who shone as bright points of light throughout the pandemic’s darkest days.
Our community now faces the replacement of Superintendent Michael Simeck and LFHS’ award-winning principal Dr. Chala Holland. This is a job for a former medical school dean, university-level educators, attorneys, military and business leaders, parents and a grandparent, who have the best interests of our schools and community at heart. We certainly empathize with those students who are distraught at the loss of the social interactions and emotional support that they found at school. We are also encouraged at the reports of many students who have weathered the pandemic with greater appreciation for the social interactions and sense of normalcy lost during the pandemic and are now filled with hope for the future.
The hardest social-emotional skill to teach is resilience, because it requires a crisis and strong guides who can lead the way with confidence, encouragement, understanding and grace. We, the Student Success 2021 Candidates, stand ready as proven professionals to navigate Lake Forest Schools through today and lead them into tomorrow.
- Dr. John Venson, David Burns, Sally Davis, Dr. Marcus Schabacker, Emily Bernahl, Anne Geraghty Helms, Carl Kirar, and Alice LeVert