Newcomers Fink and Fishman are atop crowded North Shore 112 School Board field; Incumbents win third terms

In the large field for four spots on the North Shore District 112 Board of Education, two newcomers stood above the pack, while two incumbents are rounding out the top four spots in unofficial election results from the county clerk’s office.

Lori Fink (3,255 votes) led the way as the only candidate to eclipse 3,000 votes, earning 20% of the voters’ support. Fellow newcomer Jaret Fishman is running in second with 2,760 votes, and incumbents Art Kessler (2,749) and Bennett Lasko (2,498) are the next two in the race for four open seats.

Sharone Levy Marck is in fifth place with 2,147 votes, while Ryan Morgan (1,456) and Bradley Hergott (1,064) follow. John Guy, who was on the ballot but had dropped out of the race, picked up 339 votes.

Fink, Fishman, Kessler and Lasko are in position for a spring swearing in. Current 112 School Board members Alexander Brunk and Dan Jenks will leave the board. Brunk was elected, in an uncontested race, to the Township High School 113 Board of Education on Tuesday.

Fink said her experience as an educator and a parent with young children was meaningful to voters and helped her stand out amid a crowded field.

“That message was able to connect in our community and was well received,” she said. “Those connections with so many different communities here in Highland Park, that resonated with people.”

Campaigning was new to Fink, and she said she couldn’t have pulled it off without help from her family, friends and community members. She thanked them all.

“A huge thank you for everyone who helped, because it takes a village,” she said. “This is proof that with hard work and community, we can make it happen. I’m looking forward to doing hard work and, what I like to call, heart work, because we’re talking about our kids and the community.”

Fishman is an attorney who has volunteered to support multiple District 112 initiatives. He is a member of the district’s Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee and was on D112’s Discover Team for Strategic Planning. Fishman also served two terms with the city’s Human Relations Advisory Group.

Lasko, an attorney and former School Board president, and Kessler, a finance professional, will remain on the board for their third terms.

Kessler said he was glad to see a mix of new and old win the election, and he believes the School Board’s achievements over the past eight years gave incumbents a boost.

“When we were elected eight years ago, there were a lot of big issues in the district that had to be resolved, from aging buildings to declining population to budget issues to stagnant academic achievements,” Kessler said. “And we really turned things around the past eight years. I think the community has appreciated what we achieved and wanted to see it continue.”

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