Former Indian Prairie School District 204 board member Natasha Grover is rejoining the board, filling a vacancy left by the board’s former vice president Supna Jain, who earlier this month was tapped for a spot on the Naperville City Council.
Grover was appointed to fill the vacant seat at Monday’s District 204 school board meeting, after the board moved to suspend its usual policy of seeking applications for the vacancy, which board President Laurie Donahue attributed to the board’s need to move forward with its search for a new superintendent.
Typically, Donahue explained on Monday, the board would post the opening for applications, hold interviews and select a candidate. This is the process outlined in the district’s board policy, which says that a vacancy is to be filled within 60 days.
Donahue said that the board received over 30 applications last time there was an opening on the board, and emphasized the impending timeline for selecting a new district leader.
“One of the board’s most important responsibilities is selecting and hiring the superintendent,” Donahue said at the meeting. “We are currently in the midst of this process, with key actions needed by the board in the weeks ahead.”
The board is planning to review applications and select semi-finalists for the superintendent role in late October, according to past reporting, and conduct interviews and select finalists in early November. From there, the board intends to interview finalists and select a candidate in early December, and announce the new superintendent soon after.
Donahue also noted that the district is preparing for union contract discussions.
So, citing the “immediacy of these critical tasks,” Donahue requested at Monday’s school board meeting that the board waive its typical process for filling the seat, a move approved by all the board members present.
And the board decided on a familiar face to fill the spot — Natasha Grover, who served on District 204’s school board from 2018 to 2023.
Grover first joined the board in 2018, getting appointed via the district’s usual application process to fill a vacant seat, according to past reporting. She then ran for the seat in 2019 and won, but did not run for reelection in 2023.
In a message to the district, Donahue wrote that it was “important to appoint someone who could step into the role and contribute immediately to this critical work.” She noted that Grover was part of the superintendent search that ultimately led to the hiring of outgoing Superintendent Adrian Talley.
Grover’s appointment was approved by all the board members present at Monday’s meeting, and she was sworn in at the same meeting.
Grover said she is an attorney and currently has one child in high school in District 204 — as well as two children who have graduated from the district.
At Monday’s meeting, she said it was “truly an honor” to return to the school board, and thanked her school board colleagues for “placing their trust in (her) once again.”
“Serving our students and community is both a privilege and a responsibility,” Grover said. “And I am committed to giving my very best to this role.”
Per the district’s board policy, Grover will serve until the next regular board election in 2027, at which point she can choose whether to run for the seat.
Because Jain had been serving as the board’s vice president, her stepping down also led to some shifts in board leadership.
On Monday, the board also voted for current secretary Allison Fosdick to serve as the new vice president, and selected board member Catey Genc to be the new secretary. The board also voted to appoint board member Susan Demming the new Illinois Association of School Boards governing board representative.
The board also recognized Jain’s time with the district on Monday.
A principal lecturer in communication and media studies at Naperville’s North Central College and mother of two teenage boys, Jain was first elected to the school board in 2021, and won reelection this past April, along with three other incumbent members.
Earlier this month, however, she was nominated to complete the term of Naperville City Council member Allison Longenbaugh, who was stepping down to take a new job that prevents her from sitting on the council, according to past reporting. This appointment required that Jain resign from her school board position.
Jain was sworn in as a Naperville City Council member last week, according to past reporting. She will hold that position until April 2027, when she can run for a four-year term.
Jain was recognized at Monday’s school board meeting by Fosdick, who cited her focus on student mental health, academic achievement and the passage of the district’s $420 million bond referendum that’s paying for facility improvements.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting, Jain also pointed to the bond referendum as one of the major things the district has done during her time on the board, along with a new school boundary map and the current superintendent search.
Going back further, she spoke about the challenges the district weathered during the COVID-19 pandemic just as she took her seat on the board.
“I still remember my first meeting,” Jain said on Monday. “After taking the oath, we had to make decisions about bringing students back … during COVID, and protocols were changing by the day.”
Jain said at Monday’s meeting that the school district was the reason for her and her husband’s move to the area, and that it “remains the best decision (they’ve) made.”
And she said serving as a board member “reaffirmed” for her the importance of public education — and provided leadership examples to her.
“I often ask myself, ‘What would Dr. Talley do?’” Jain said at the meeting. “Because he’s set the bar for me in so many ways in terms of what extraordinary leadership looks like. I often ask myself, ‘What would Laurie (Donahue) do?’”
As for the future, Jain said she will “continue cheering 204 on” as a parent, member of the community and in her new role as a Naperville City Council member.
“You better believe 204 is represented up there,” Jain said on Monday.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com