District 87, Unit 5 elect new school board presidents

Posted on April 27, 2017
Unit 5 school board
Jim Hayek Jr. has been appointed President of the Unit 5 school board. (WJBC file photo)

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL — The leading vote-getter in this month’s District 87 school board election is now the board’s president.

Board members elevated Mary Yount to the post Wednesday night to replace Jennifer Sedbrook, who did not seek re-election. Yount, who had been vice president, is a homemaker and nurse. She was first elected to the Bloomington school board in 2009.

The District 87 board selected Jim Almeda is the board’s new vice president.

Two men elected to the Unit 5 school board two years ago now have the board’s top leadership posts. Board members selected State Farm executive Jim Hayek Jr. as Unit 5 president, replacing Meta Mickens-Baker, who remains on the board.

Hayek has been the board’s vice president under Mickens-Baker and is a former member of Unit Five’s Citizens Advisory Council.

The board’s new vice president is Barry Hitchins, who like Hayek, was elected to the board in 2015.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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