Board Members

Lori Bendall

Lori Bendall, Board President

Term Expires 12-2025
Lori.Bendall@chagrinschools.org

Lori Bendall was appointed to fill a vacant seat in April 2021 and was subsequently elected to the School Board in the November 2021 election.

Prior to her election to the Board, Lori was an active volunteer in the District. She served as President of Spark and Vice-President of Chagrin Falls Music Lovers. She was also a PTO building representative and After-Prom administrative chair.

Lori has her B.A. in Finance and Operations Management from Boston University and her J.D. from George Washington University. She is a former transactional attorney with a focus on public contracts and taxation. She is also the founder of a legal recruiting firm that worked with Fortune 500 companies, law firms, and hospital systems to attract attorneys, negotiate compensation and benefits packages, and assist with onboarding.

Lauren Miller

Lauren Miller, Board Vice President

Term Expires: 12-2025
Lauren.Miller@chagrinschools.org

Lauren Miller was elected to the School Board in November 2021. Lauren is also a licensed foster parent and an active volunteer in the School District and the wider community.

Lauren graduated from Chagrin Falls High School in 2001. She attended Miami University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management with a focus in Manufacturing Engineering. She has work experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Lauren and her husband, Jeff, both grew up in Chagrin Falls and moved back to the village with their three children in 2019.

Photo of board member Steve Bornder

Steve Bordner, Board Member

Term Expires: 12-2025
Steve.Bordner@chagrinschools.org

Steve Bordner was appointed to the Chagrin Falls Board of Education on January 29, 2025, to fill the seat vacated by Dr. Robert Schleper. As Director of Golf at The Country Club in Pepper Pike, he has led operations and fostered a culture of excellence. A 20-year PGA member, he serves on the Northern Ohio PGA Board of Directors and remains deeply involved in the professional golf community.

Beyond his career, Steve is an active volunteer in Chagrin Falls Schools. He has participated in roundtable discussions, Listen and Learn sessions, and strategic planning initiatives. His dedication to students includes coaching, mentoring, and volunteering in classrooms, during lunch, and at recess.

Steve and his wife, Danah, have been proud Chagrin Falls residents for many years. Their daughters, Taylor and Reagan, attend Chagrin Falls Intermediate School, and their family remains deeply involved in the district and community.

Laura Hui

Laura Viola Hui, Board Member

Term Expires: 12-2027
Laura.Hui@chagrinschools.org

Laura's career path has included various teaching roles in the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Greater Cleveland areas. She has worked as a substitute teacher for Chagrin Falls Schools, a middle school string orchestra director, a second-grade classroom teacher, a 1-on-1 aide for twice exceptional students, an adjunct professor of Italian language at Kent State, a preschool music teacher, and a private violin and piano instructor.

As an undergraduate student, Laura discovered her passion for teaching while participating in UMD's premier scholarship chamber music program, through which she performed outreach recitals for elementary students in underserved schools throughout Washington D.C. Furthermore, her diverse interests outside of classical violin led her to study and live in Italy, resulting in Laura earning two separate Bachelor's degrees from the University of Maryland in Violin Performance (B.M.) and Italian Language & Literature (B.A.).

Laura's dedication to education prompted her to shift her focus from classical music performance to elementary education. This led her to obtain a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) from The Johns Hopkins University. She currently holds an active teaching license from the state of Ohio for PreK to 3rd grade, with a 4-5 endorsement.

During the 2022-23 school year, Laura served on the leadership team for the newly adopted strategic planning initiative. She co-chaired the High Quality Learning Experience inquiry group and played a key role in drafting the briefing report and recommendations, which will guide future curriculum and hiring practices in the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools.

Since relocating to Chagrin Falls in 2015 with her husband and two children, Laura has been actively involved in the community and School District. Her involvement includes serving as a room parent for both children, participating as a Tiger Tutor at Gurney Elementary, volunteering for the PTO, and being a committee member for the Bike & Trike, which raises funds for pediatric cancer research.

In her spare time, Laura enjoys exploring new culinary opportunities, engaging in DIY projects such as sewing, gardening, and home improvement, attempting to play tennis with her kids (who are much better than she is), holding impromptu dance parties in her kitchen, and skiing.

Sabo

Dr. Danielle Sabo, Board Member

Term expires: 12-2027

Danielle.Sabo@chagrinschools.org

Dr. Danielle Sabo was elected to the School Board in November 2023.

Dr. Sabo received both her Masters degree and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in the Department of Sociology where she specialized in the areas of mental health, trauma, criminology, and research methods. Danielle spent her undergraduate career at Ohio University where she competed for the nationally ranked speech and debate team and earned her B.A. in Health Communication and Political Science.

During her early work career, Danielle spent six years at Case Western Reserve University as the Assistant Director for Violence Prevention and Health Education – where she was charged with the development and implementation of a campus-wide bystander intervention program, served as a confidential survivor campus advocate, and functioned as a Title IX advisor working with both General Counsel and Campus Police. For 13 years, Dr. Sabo has also served as a University Faculty member at Kent State University, John Carroll University, Case Western Reserve University, and Baldwin Wallace University teaching collegiate courses on: Criminology, Statistics, Gender & Violence, Research Methods, Human Development, Medical Sociology, Public Speaking, and Advanced Presentations. Dr. Sabo has recently transitioned to Cleveland State University where she serves as a Research Associate in The Criminology Research Center. Danielle's mixed-methods research (quantitative, qualitative, geospatial) focuses on the lived experience of trauma and its impact on health and behavioral outcomes over the life course. In particular, her work strives to amplify the voices of those victims with an intersection of multiple marginalized identities.

Danielle has proudly served as room parent for her son Teddy’s preschool class at Gurney Elementary for the past three years. She was also honored to volunteer as a Speech and Debate coach for Chagrin Falls High School in the 2022-2023 academic year and is a member of the Boosters Club and PTO. When not teaching and doing research, Danielle enjoys spending time hiking through Chagrin Falls parks with her husband and son, cycling on her Peloton, and reading books while cuddling with her German Shorthair Pointer Dakota.

Chagrin Falls Board of Education

400 East Washington Street
Chagrin Falls, OH 44022
440-247-5500

Email all Board members as a group at:
Board@chagrinschools.org

*Please note that our practice is that our Board President speaks on behalf of the Board as a group and so you can expect to hear back from our Board President and/or Superintendent or Treasurer in response to your email, but not individual Board members.