Township High School District 211

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Township High School District 211 is a school district located in Cook County, Illinois, and is the largest high school district in Illinois. District 211 serves the communities of Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Palatine, and Schaumburg, and portions of Arlington Heights, Elk Grove, Hanover Park, Roselle, Rolling Meadows, Streamwood, and South Barrington in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.^[1]^[2]

Schools

High schools

School	Town	Picture	Team Name	Colors	IHSA Classes (2/3/4)	Reference
Conant High School	Hoffman Estates	File:JBConantHighSchool.jpg	Cougars	<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" /> <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" /> <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />	AA/3A/4A	^[3]
Fremd High School	Palatine	File:William Fremd High School.jpg	Vikings	<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" /> <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />	AA/3A/4A	^[4]
Hoffman Estates High School	Hoffman Estates		Hawks	<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" /> <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />	AA/3A/4A	^[5]
Palatine High School	Palatine	File:Palatine High School.jpg	Pirates	<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" /> <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />	AA/3A/4A	^[6]
Schaumburg High School	Schaumburg		Saxons	<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" /> <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />	AA/3A/4A	^[7]

Alternative Schools

District 211 North Campus
Higgins Education Center

Academics

Each school is accredited by the North Central Association and has earned full recognition status by the Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction. All five high schools have received the United States Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award, while Palatine and Fremd High Schools have each been recognized twice.

Palatine High School was one of only 10 schools nationally to be named a “New American High School” by the U.S. Department of Education in 2000. Three schools – Palatine, William Fremd, and Schaumburg High Schools – were named among the “Top 99” high schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report.^[1]

D211 carries a curriculum of more than 390 courses, a six-week summer school, and Advanced Placement opportunities in 34 subjects. The District also offers 66 dual credit courses with local colleges, including Harper College, Triton College, and College of DuPage, as well as with the University of Illinois.^[1]

History

High School District 211 was named among the elite school districts in Illinois by Expansion Management magazine, a publication for corporate re-location, in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, and again in 2007.

On November 2, 2015, The New York Times reported that the federal government determined that District 211 violated anti-discrimination laws because "it did not allow a transgender student who identifies as a girl and participates on a girls’ sports team to change and shower in the girls’ locker room without restrictions." The New York Times added that the student in question "identifies as female but was born male."^[8]

Board of education

File:Township High School District 211 Board Meeting - May 13, 2021 - 1.jpg

The District 211 Board of Education meeting on May 13, 2021

Township High School District 211 is governed by a seven-member Board of Education.^[9]^[10] Board members are elected to four year terms^[11] in non-partisan,^[12] at-large elections^[13] with three seats up for election in odd years after presidential election years (most recently in 2021)^[11] and four seats up for election in odd years after midterm election years (most recently in 2023).^[14] As of June 2023, the membership of the Board of Education is:^[15]^[16]

Anna Klimkowicz (board president)
Steven Rosenblum (board vice president)
Kimberly Cavill (board secretary)
Curtis Bradley
Michelle Barron
Peter Dombrowski
Timothy Mc Gowan

2023 Election

In the April 4th, 2023 race, the seats of all four incumbents, Peter Dombrowski, Steven Rosenblum, Mark Cramer, and Kim Cavill were up for reelection. There were 11 names on the ballot. Incumbents Rosenblum and Cavill were supported by the local union along with newcomers candidates Michelle Barron, a mental health expert, and Jane Russell. They were also supported by a Political action committee known as Palatine Supports Public School. The committee was created by a local democrat organization.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

The conservative candidates, Mark Cramer and Peter Dombrowski, were support by C4KE, another Political action committee. They were joined by newcomers Susan Saam, and Barbara Valez.

There were two independent candidates who self funded their own campaigns, one was Meenal Dewan, and the other was 19-year-old author Aiden Branss.

The winners of the election were Peter Dombrowski, Kim Cavill, Steven Rosenblum, and Michelle Barron.

2021 election

In the April 6, 2021 race, the seats of board members Robert LeFevre, Ed Yung, and Anna Klimkowicz were up for election. Nine candidates ran for the three seats; Klimkowicz ran for reelection, while LeFevre and Yung did not. Curtis Bradley, Klimkowicz, and Timothy Mc Gowan—the winners of the election—ran as a slate. Jessica Hinkle, Kristen Steel, Robi Vollkommer, and Denise Wilson—the next highest vote-getters—were all supported by board member Mark Cramer. The four generally emphasized the importance of in-person learning over remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for fiscal discipline within the district. Roxanne Wittkamp received the least votes; she was the only candidate not to coordinate with another.^[15] Amy Nelson announced on March 18, 2021 that she was suspending her campaign due to an employment conflict; although she was out of the race, she announced that it was too late to have her name removed from the ballot. Despite imploring supporters to not vote for her,^[17] she received 3,453 votes.

Following the 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd^[18] and the district's subsequent establishment of an equity team, equity concerns played a notable role in the race. In particular, Bradley and Mc Gowan, who are both black, made social justice a central issue of their campaigns.^[19] Their ultimate election to the board was described by The Daily Herald as a success for equity voices in the district^[19] and was featured in The Herald's analysis of the impact of George Floyd's murder on the Chicago suburbs.^[18] Bradley told The Herald that he thought the voters' acknowledgement of equity issues within the district was partially responsible for his election;^[19] Mc Gowan said that he saw his ascendance to the board as a direct response to the previous summer's protests.^[18]

Prior to his run for the board, Mc Gowan was an activist who led Palatine's first Black Lives Matter demonstration^[20] in June 2020 and openly supported equitable changes to professional development, employment, and curriculum within the district.^[21] After Palatine High School teacher Jeanne Hedgepeth^[22] made a Facebook post that was critical of the Black Lives Matter movement and compared the term "white privilege" to a racial slur, Mc Gowan described the post as "unacceptable" coming from a teacher and called for her termination. Hedgepeth was placed under investigation for her remarks^[21]^[23] and was later terminated. Three weeks before the election, Hedgepeth sued Mc Gowan for defamation, alleging that he had made false statements about her on Facebook that had led to her firing. Mc Gowan's attorney disputed Hedgepeth's allegation, suggesting that the lawsuit's proximity to the election might be for political purposes.^[22]

Township High School District 211 Board of Education election, 2021^[24]^[15]
Candidate	Votes	%
Curtis Bradley	Template:Replace	16.66
Denise K. Wilson	Template:Replace	7.35
Robi Vollkommer	Template:Replace	9.40
Kristen M. Steel	Template:Replace	10.56
Jessica J. Hinkle	Template:Replace	14.31
Roxanne Wittkamp	Template:Replace	3.80
Amy K. Nelson	Template:Replace	6.36
Anna Klimkowicz (incumbent)	Template:Replace	16.42
Timothy Mc Gowan	Template:Replace	15.14
Total votes	Template:Replace	100.00