New Dist. 26 Board Member Says He’Ll Learn Ropes First

Joseph Mross said it’s too early for him to start “waving any banners.”

The Mount Prospect resident was appointed to the River Trails Elementary District 26 school board earlier this month.

As he begins his tenure on the board, Mross said he’s not focusing on any specific goals or issues.

“It’s too early for that,” he said. “I have to learn the basics of being a board member before I start taking up causes.”

Mross replaces Mary Mathews, who had to step down from the board just a few months after being elected when a career opportunity for her husband took them out of the district.

Mross’ term will expire in 2009.

Mross brings to the board a deep knowledge about the field of education in general and District 26 in particular.

Mross has a degree in music education and is now completing advanced coursework in education administration at the University of Phoenix. During a recent stint living in Florida, he ran a private tutoring business.

Mross is himself a product of District 26 schools, having graduated from River Trails Middle School in 1970. In the 1980s, he returned to the district as a substitute teacher.

And his daughter just started the seventh grade at River Trails.

“You could say I have pretty strong roots in the district,” he said.