Elmhurst D205 Official Replaced As Finance Panel Head
ELMHURST, IL – Without explanation, the Elmhurst school board’s president has replaced the finance committee chairman, who is seen as fiscally conservative.
Last week, Kara Caforio, a former president of the Elmhurst School District 205 board, presided over the committee’s quarterly meeting. She replaced Jim Collins, who headed the panel for years and is still on the committee.
The decision to replace him was made by President Athena Arvanitis, who took the helm last year.
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In response to Patch’s inquiry, Arvanitis acknowledged in an email she made the change, but gave no other information.
She kept Courtenae Trautmann as the policy committee’s chairwoman.
Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
When Patch contacted Arvanitis, Collins was still listed online as the chairman. The district’s website was updated afterward.
Collins referred Patch’s questions to Arvanitis.
For years, Collins has warned about increases in the number of employees while enrollment has remained relatively flat.
Former board member Karen Stuefen at times voted in dissent with Collins on budget issues. But she did not run for another term in 2023.
In late 2021, Collins and Arvanitis clashed publicly during a finance committee meeting over how much money the district should sock away. At one point, Collins told her she was confusing accounting systems.
Later in the meeting, Arvanitis packed up while Collins was saying he “respectfully” disagreed with her. She left soon after, saying she was going to a PTA meeting.
Collins is the longest-serving member on board, starting in 2009. He has not publicly said whether he plans to run for another term. He was the top vote-getter in the 2021 election.
Collins has stuck mainly to budget issues and largely avoided controversies about such things as face masks, alleged bias in classrooms and conservatives’ objections to books used in the schools.
Earlier this year, Tom Chavez, an Elmhurst conservative activist, said during a school board meeting that Collins signed a “Right to Parent” petition requiring a parent’s consent for gender identification counseling, among other things.
Collins did not respond to the activist’s comments during the meeting. Nor did he return Patch’s message afterward.
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