The Evanston Township High School Board of Education delayed electing board officers during the April 17 meeting.

Martha Burns, who is running for vice president, said the elections were postponed because board members were worried about her outspokenness at meetings.

“The concern is me,” Burns said. “And it’s a legitimate concern.”

Burns, a board member since 2005, expressed her concerns with newly elected superintendent Eric Witherspoon at the Feb. 27 board meeting.

Burns has continued to pose questions during board meetings about issues, including the reinstatement of the fall season of the school’s dance team, the Pom Kits, at the March 27 meeting.

The board and Burns are continuing to discuss the postponed elections.

A special meeting of the board was called for April 20. The board met in closed session, but officer elections are not necessarily discussed in an executive meeting, said William Stafford, the high school’s business manager and board secretary.

The election of board officers is held annually around this time, before the start of the fiscal year, which begins on July 1, Stafford said.

Illinois requires school boards to elect a president and a vice president, he said. They are elected by a majority board vote during a public board meeting.

The president’s duties include presiding over board meetings, calling special meetings and representing the board at deliberations with other school districts. The vice president fulfills these duties when the president cannot. The vice president of the board has also chaired the finance committee, Stafford said.

There was no confirmation regarding when the board officer elections will take place, but the next board meeting is scheduled for May 8.

Reach Anna Prior at [email protected].