The Huntley Community School District 158 Board of Education on Oct. 2 introduced two student advisory representatives and began developing formal protocols to guide their role, including mentorship, communication channels and protections against Open Meetings Act conflicts.

Board members congratulated the new representatives — Emma, a Huntley junior, and Niko Kananeshu, senior and student-body president — then discussed how the advisory role should work in practice. The board emphasized the need to give student representatives advance notice of agenda items that require their feedback and proposed a monthly meeting with the superintendent to coordinate requests.

Superintendent Lombard said the district would limit direct outreach from multiple board members to the students so they would not be “bombarded” with requests, and suggested designating a single point of contact to funnel request for student input. Lombard proposed monthly check-ins that could include the board president and superintendent and recommended creating a mentor program so students would have a consistent, manageable contact on district matters.

Board members and staff discussed Open Meetings Act (OMA) implications for the advisory role. Board member Curtis Balmer asked whether conversations with the student representatives could run afoul of OMA; district counsel and staff clarified that, because the student representatives are advisory and not voting members, ad hoc conversations do not automatically violate the OMA. Board members cautioned, however, that discussions involving two board members who form a quorum could create legal exposure.

The board asked administration to draft protocols that would: identify mentor(s) for each student representative; define how and when the students would be asked for feedback; set a monthly meeting cadence; and outline how student input from other buildings would be solicited to make representative feedback districtwide. Lombard said she would gather more details about a student board-member workshop and report back at the superintendent’s report in two weeks.

The board also agreed to consider sending the student representatives to a regional student board-member workshop if the timing and parental permissions allow.

Why it matters: The district formalized a two-student advisory role to amplify student voice districtwide while creating guardrails — mentorship, schedule, and single-point intake — intended to protect students from undue pressure and to ensure compliance with open-meeting rules.

What’s next: Administration will draft written protocols and report back with details on mentorship, meeting cadence and any training opportunities for the students.