Clarke Warren, newly appointed school board member, filled Lance Weinhardt’s seat on the board after being chosen from a pool of 7 applicants. The 5 members of the school board, not including Weinhardt, finalized their choice at the meeting on September 10. 

“We did what the village board and the school board has done in the past, which is open it up for people to apply,” said Pablo Muirhead, school board clerk. “After a lot of deliberation, we chose Clarke a few weeks ago, and he was named to the board officially.”

Warren, as a Shorewood parent, wanted to be involved in the school district more. 

 “Ever since we’ve moved here, I’ve been involved in my kids’ activities,” Warren said. “Rather than focusing all my time on what my kids are interested in like the mountain bike team, choir, drama, I wanted to see how I could spend some of my time to better their educational system.”

The board had to decide what to do after Weinhardt resigned. One option was to move on without a fifth member.

“We could’ve just continued without a fifth member, which is not advisable, because there’s a lot of work to do, and if there were a need for a tie breaking vote, we wouldn’t have one if we were even numbered,” Muirhead said. 

The other two options were a special election, or have people apply and the board choose one of them after interviews and meetings. The board chose the latter. 

“We had 7 fantastic applicants, and it was a very very difficult decision,” said Paru Shah, school board president. “It was thinking through [things like] ‘what are some of the needs we were looking for? What are the qualities the candidates bring that we don’t already have?’”

Warren has a background in finance, Muirhead pointed out, and works in fraud investigation. 

“I look for things that are tell-tale signs of fraudulent behavior, so I have experience looking for those types of things,” Warren said. “I’m not saying that would happen in the school district at all, but what I’m saying is that [that] trains me to look for detail, and ask questions that other people might’ve not thought of.”

Muirhead points out the districts stable financial state.

“The district has been in strong financial standing,” Muirhead said. “But as we move into the next phases of our capital improvement, as a result of the large referendum that the community approved in April, having someone with Warren’s background is going to be very helpful.” 

Warren thinks an advantage for him will be his volunteering in his kids’ activities, which gives him connections with parents while also connecting with kids. 

“I started with coaching … lacrosse, I was the JV Lacrosse coach for a few years, working with Tom Goth and Kevin Kane,” Warren said. “I think the positions that I’ve taken on have been leadership roles. And they’re in a leadership role working with the kids in the district. So I think that has prepared me to maybe understand how kids think.”

Shah also points out Warren’s family’s experience in the community as something that will help him on the school board. 

“I think none of [the board members] have kids in the high school,” Shah said. “So to have some sort of background of how that process goes, and being in the school district for a long time and having some historical memory.”

Warren plans to run for another term once the current one expires in April of next year. He says he needs to see if he wants to continue to serve on the board after these coming months. 

 “If I really honestly thought that I didn’t want to do this for another term, then I probably wouldn’t have put my name in,” Warren said.