IASB Briefs for June 2025

Summer Schedule
The Illinois Association of School Boards offices in Springfield and Lombard will be closed on the following days, observing the Association’s traditional summer schedule: Thursday, June 19, in commemoration of Juneteenth and Friday, July 4 to celebrate Independence Day. Also, Fridays, July 11, July 18, and July 25. 

Podcast Updates
Inside IASB is a podcast series dedicated to informing and encouraging Illinois school board members through interviews with IASB staff and board members from across the state. New episodes are published every other Wednesday. Listeners are encouraged to follow the podcast on their preferred podcast platform, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, or RSS feed.

The latest installment is Inside the Capitol: IASB’s 2025 Advocacy Agenda with Sarah Miller, IASB’s Associate Executive Director for Governmental Relations. 

Upcoming episodes include School Budgeting and Funding Challenges with Anne Williams, Ed.D., Deputy Superintendent for Operations/Chief School Business Official for School District U-46 based in Elgin; and a discussion about board service with a focus on the new board member experience with Jim Lima, longtime member of the Leyden CHSD 212 school board. 

Executive Search Platform Update
The IASB Executive Searches department will be changing application software systems as of July 1, 2025. Any information that you may have entered or documents you uploaded onto Frontline/Applitrack through the current site will no longer be available to you after July 1.  Please consider whether you need to download and save items from your existing application materials before that date. 

The new software will be available beginning in July. If you have any questions regarding this change, please contact Mary Torgler at (630) 629-3776, ext. 1217.

NSPRA Awards IASB Journal
The Illinois School Board Journal was recently presented with an Award of Excellence from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). The honor was in the “Magazine” category, for the May/June 2024 Advocacy Issue, a collaboration of the Communications & Productions services staff and IASB’s Governmental Relations team. 

NSPRA’s Publication and Digital Media Awards recognize outstanding tactical materials such as publications, newsletters, videos, podcasts, websites, social media and more. Entries are judged within an entry category for organizations of a similar type and size. Each entry is judged on the overall excellence of the entry as well as its quality compared to other entries in the category.

IASB collaborates with INSPRA, the Illinois chapter of NSPRA, with the Practical PR column that appears in most issues of the IASB Journal, as well as at the Joint Annual Conference and during other activities throughout the year.