Ballots set for school board races
By Susan Frick Carlman scarlman@stmedianetwork.com January 7, 2013 2:32PM
Updated: February 14, 2013 6:13AM
The choices have taken shape for the voters concerning the next school board races in Naperville.
Candidates filed the required petitions and other documents between Dec. 17 and Dec. 26. The consolidated election — which also will give voters the chance to weigh in on municipal and township representation, as well as the board makeup of local library, park and fire districts — is set for April 9.
Nearly all of the Indian Prairie School District 204 board seats are up for grabs. Voters will fill four four-year terms on the board, choosing from eight Naperville residents interested in the positions. The candidates, listed in the order in which their names will appear on the ballot, are Cathy Piehl, Vasavi Chakka, Krishna Bansal, Michael Raczak, Soteria Kapsis, Maria Curry, Jazmin Santillan and Benjamin White.
Justin Karubas is running in an uncontested election for the two years remaining of the unexpired term of Curt Bradshaw, who stepped down in September after accepting an appointment to the Illinois State Board of Education. White was selected to take Bradshaw’s seat until the election; he and Karubas were among 21 district residents who applied to fill the vacancy.
Four-year board member Piehl, who in 2008 was also appointed to fill a vacancy, is seeking a second elected term.
Three other current board members are stepping down. Dawn DeSart was chosen by the Wheatland Township Democratic caucus to run for highway commissioner. She will face Republican nominee Scott Bishop and 20-year Highway Commissioner Dayton Jarnagin, who is running as an independent along with fellow incumbents Todd Morse, township supervisor, and Kelli Lord, assessor.
Also opting not to seek re-election are Christine Vickers and Susan Rasmus, who has served as board president since Bradshaw’s departure.
“It’s time for me to pursue some different opportunities,” Rasmus said Monday, adding that she has been deeply impressed by the caliber of the district’s board and administration in her four years with the group.
“I hope that I can find other ways to serve the district,” she said.
Those looking to win seats on the Naperville School District 203 board include, again in ballot order, Donna Wandke, Charles Cush, Derek Krauss, Jackie Romberg, David Fish, Kristin W. Fitzgerald, Heather Rajamoney, Neil Samuels, Susan Crotty, Jay Fisher and Sabina Qadir.
Incumbent Romberg, presently the board’s vice president, was appointed to fill a two-year vacancy in 2007 and hopes to win a second elected term. Crotty, also a current board member, is nearing the end of her second term.
Jim Dennison and Dave Weeks, now members of the board as well, did not file to run for new terms.
