Meet Erin
My husband, Charley, and I live in South Barrington with our two kids, Chandler, 15, and Callie, 11. Chandler is a sophomore at Barrington High School, and Callie is a 6th grader Station Middle School. Both kiddos are in Barrington 220's Chinese Immersion program, and Chandler was also a part of Extended Self-Contained at Hough Elementary.
When I'm not serving on the school board, I'm an independent journalist who reports, writes and edits news and features for a variety of newspapers, websites, magazines and nonprofits.
I do tae kwon do with both our kids — we're all third-degree black belts! —and I love to run, having completed 75 marathons and 13 ultramarathons.
As a member of the Barrington 220 Board of Education since May 2021, I've served on the Board Policy Committee, District Equity Team and twice as our 220 board delegate to the Illinois Association of School Board's General Assembly. And I'm passionate about bolstering belonging in our Barrington 220 schools!
Why I'm Running for Re-Election
It has been an absolute honor to serve on Barrington 220’s Board of Education for the past four years. In 2021, even before I was sworn in as a board member, former and longtime 220 Board President Brian Battle advised me to run for a second term. I now know why. It has taken the past four years of board member service to really learn how our school district works from so many lenses – from the point of view of our educators, our students, our families, our community members and our volunteer organizations. I’ve learned how to shape and review policy, sat on the District Equity Team and represented our board as a delegate to the Illinois Association of School Board's General Assembly.
And we've done a lot. During the past four years, we’ve navigated the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency, constructed a five-year, six-pillar strategic framework, broken ground on and cut ribbons on every aspect of our $147 million referendum, hired a new superintendent, implemented free, full-day kindergarten throughout the district, passed four responsible budgets while maintaining our AAA bond rating, and negotiated and approved multiyear contracts with our two unions, the Barrington Education Association and Barrington School District Employee Organization. And by not choosing not to issue Debt Service Extension Base at the height of inflation, we saved our district's taxpayers about $7.5 million.
In November 2024, our community approved a $64 million referendum that will bring STEAM classrooms at our middle schools and high school, safety and security enhancements and a new, accessible community auditorium. I’m running for another term to see this referendum through. I'm committed to continue listening to the concerns of our families, staff and community members and ensure all our students and families have a school district that embraces them. We've done a lot, and there's still so much incredible and challenging work to do!