Three finalists to be interviewed for St. Charles School Board vacancy

St. Charles School Board members on Monday will interview three finalists to fill the vacancy on the board following the resignation of Carolyn Waibel in October.

Board members will interview Matthew Kuschert, Jennifer Schuh and Saurab Sood in closed session during a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday. Thirteen candidates were interviewed for the seat.

The new board member will be seated during a special meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 9. The person who is appointed to the vacancy will fill the seat until the next consolidated election, which is April 4, 2023.

The applications of all the candidates can be found on the district’s website, district.d303.org. Waibel cited “unrelenting harassment” by community members in announcing her resignation. She believes the harassment began because of her stance on COVID-19 mitigation measures.

“I was vocal about following the mandate because it’s the right thing to do to follow policy,” Waibel had said. “But it’s certainly gone past following the mask and quarantine policy at this point. It’s very personal. So I really have no idea any more.”

She was first elected to the School Board in April 2017 and was reelected this spring. During a St. Charles School Board meeting in October prior to her resignation, she described some of that harassment to her fellow school board members.

“Someone has harassed me in my face walking into meetings when I was on a walker, I’ve had dead animals thrown into my driveway, my house has been vandalized, I’ve been followed and videotaped in a grocery store shopping with my son, my home was broken into, my car was vandalized and these people continue to libel me,” Waibel said during the pubic comment period of the meeting.