The following Caucus-nominated candidates will be on the ballot for the school boards in the Consolidated General Election on April 7, 2009. See the Lake County Clerk's web site for more election and voting information.

Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65

Mary Jane Brady

Mary Jane Brady has lived in Lake Bluff since 1995. She was appointed to fill a vacancy on the District 65 School Board in May 2008. She and her husband, Frank, moved to Lake Bluff after MJ accepted a job as an audiologist at Lake Forest Hospital. She worked at LFH until the birth of daughter Eileen in 1998, when she “retired” from audiology. The year 2000 brought son Emmet to the Brady bunch. Both are students at Lake Bluff Central School this year. Mary Jane graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in Psychology and a Masters in Audiology, specializing in adult and child diagnostics and electrophysiologic measurements in the operating room. As a member of the Carle Clinic multi-disciplinary Child Disability Team she evaluated pediatric patients in weekly comprehensive diagnostic clinics. While at Lake Forest Hospital she provided audiometric evaluation and remediation and comprehensive school follow-up for students in the Waukegan School District. In addition to the Board of Education, MJ is a member of the PTO and the District 65 Alliance for Excellence. She serves as den mother to Emmet’s Cub Scout den and cookie mom to Eileen’s Brownie troop.

Al Fifhause

Al has been a member of the Lake Bluff District 65 School Board since 2005. Al and his family have lived in District 65 since 1981 and currently reside in Knollwood. Al owns and operates a small software development firm focusing on the needs of larger religious organizations. Previously he managed the IT department at the United Methodist Church financial headquarters in Evanston, IL. Al and Leanna have three children. The older two are graduates of District 65 schools, and the youngest is currently attending Central School. They also have two daughters-in-law and one grandson.

Terry Kearney

Terry and his family have lived in Lake Bluff for the past 16 years, and he is a lifelong resident of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff community. He is currently the chief operating officer at Hospira, a specialty pharmaceutical and medical products company headquartered in Lake Forest. Terry and his wife Vicky have two sons enrolled in Lake Bluff schools.

Eric Waggoner

Eric Waggoner and his wife moved to the Lake Bluff School District in 2006 in large part to raise their two young boys within a top-notch educational setting. An urban planner by profession, Eric is employed by Lake County, where he manages the County’s zoning office. Eric played a prominent role in the School District’s community design process for the Lake Bluff Elementary School, advocating for formal LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for the new school and working with the District to obtain additional funding for such purpose. He currently chairs the “District 65 Green Team,” a collaborative effort of various community stakeholders whose purpose is to advise the District on environmental matters. Eric holds a BA from the University of Chicago and a Masters in Urban Planning and Law Degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Lake Forest High School District 115

Todd Burgener

Todd is a 40-year resident of Lake Bluff and became a Lake Bluff homeowner more than 17 years ago. He and his wife have two children currently attending Lake Bluff School District 65. Todd has served as a member of the Lake Forest High School District 115 Board of Education since February 2008 when he was appointed by that board to fill a mid-term vacancy. He current serves on the Operations Committee providing oversight to all major high school operations. Todd has been engaged in the successful development of a new facilities use plan and fee schedule aimed at encouraging community use of District 115 facilities, including West Campus. He is also participating in the co-development of a revised Board Policy Manual.

Todd brings more than 20 years of business experience centered, primarily, on commercial insurance, finance and corporate risk management. For the past five years, he has been employed by Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he serves as the Hospital’s Director of Corporate Insurance Initiatives. In addition to being a 1980 graduate of Lake Forest High School, Todd holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Illinois State University and a Masters in Business Administration from DePaul University.

Additional Endorsements

In addition to the nominees listed above, the Lake Bluff School Caucus endorses Lake Forest Caucus nominees Jim Carey, Sharon Golan, and John Scribner for the Lake Forest High School District 115 school board.