During a Special Board meeting on Monday, May 1, 2023, three Board members were sworn into office. Incumbent Linda Peckham-Dodge joined newcomers Alan Kastengren and Patti Thanos as the duly elected Board of Education members to serve a four-year term until 2027.

Peckham-Dodge has served on the Board of Education for two terms, starting in 2017, and served as Board President from 2019-2023. Peckham-Dodge has two children, one who is an Orland 135 alumni. 

Alan Kastengren, a current D135 parent, steps into his new role as a Board member upon a successful run in the April 4th Consolidated Election. Kastengran, an engineer and scientist at Argonne Laboratory, holds a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University. He also served on the Finance/Operations Board Advisory Committee for the last four years. During his candidacy, Kastengren ran on the ideas of maintaining financial stability as well as increasing student achievement. 

Patti Thanos, a mother of two, works as an application developer and holds a  Masters of Science - Information Technology. During Thanos’ election run, she stated that she would work towards an increase in performance objectively measured by student proficiency scores and an increase in extra-curricular program participation. 

Peckham-Dodge, Kastengren and Thanos join Jim Bax, Nichole Browner, Elizabeth Jobb and Jennifer Tutor on the D135 Board of Education. The next regular Board of Education meeting with its newly seated members is scheduled on May 8th at Liberty School.