Welcome New School Board Members!

In November 2024, in an historic election, Chicagoans went to the polls to vote for School Board members for the first time ever. Read more about the election and our 48th ward school districts and subdistricts in this blog post from October 2024.

In that election, Ebony DeBerry and Ellen Rosenfeld were both voted in. Since then, the mayor has appointed the remaining two board members in our districts: Debby Pope and Karen Zaccor.

The board members were all sworn in this past Wednesday, January 15. Read more about them below:

Ebony DeBerry, District 2 (Subdistrict 2a)

The lifelong Rogers Park resident is the manager of educational initiatives at ONE Northside and a former CPS student, teacher and parent. DeBerry has said she wants to increase parent involvement, expand after-school programming, and strengthen tutoring and counseling in CPS.

She’s also a supporter of Sustainable Community Schools, a model in which schools partner with community organizations to provide wraparound services.

Debby Pope, District 2 (Subdistrict 2b)

A retired CPS teacher, Debby Pope is a former member of the Chicago Teachers Union and has served in their House of Delegates. According to her bio on the Board of Education website, she is the parent of two CPS alumni and a grandparent of a current CPS kindergartener.

Karen Zaccor, District 4 (Subdistrict 4a)

Karen Zaccor is a longtime community organizer and Uptown resident. She was a CPS teacher for 28 years and most recently taught at Uplift Community High School in Uptown, a school she co-founded, before her recent retirement. She also raised a daughter who graduated from CPS.

Zaccor has used her advocacy efforts to push for an elected school board, establish full-day kindergarten, and stop school closures.

Ellen Rosenfeld, District 4 (Subdistrict 4b)

Ellen Rosenfeld is a former teacher and mother of four and has held various education-related roles before running for school board. Originally from St. Louis, Rosenfeld taught for five years on the city’s South Side. She later joined the Local School Council at Bell Elementary School, which her children attended.

For the past seven years, she worked as a family and community engagement specialist at CPS, which involves communicating with families at forums or public meetings.

Welcome new Board members — we look forward to working together!