School elections draw interest
By Susan Frick Carlman scarlman@stmedianetwork.com December 18, 2012 3:00PM
Updated: January 20, 2013 6:19AM
At least 21 people have set their sights on positions on local school boards in the spring elections.
As the filing period opened Monday, 10 Naperville residents signed up for the five open slots in Indian Prairie School District 204, including two current board members. In District 203, two incumbents also were among the 11 office hopefuls who submitted documents Monday for the four available seats, The filing period ends Dec. 26.
Those running for the Indian Prairie board include Krishna Bansal, Vasavi Chakka, Maria Curry, Susan Taylor Demming, Soteria Kapsis, Justin Karubas, incumbent Cathy Piehl, Michael Raczak, Jazmin Santillan and incumbent Benjamin White.
Three other board members have terms ending in April. President Susan Rasmus and Christine Vickers were not among those who filed documents Monday. The remaining incumbent, Dawn DeSart, said she plans to run for Wheatland Township highway commissioner in April rather than seek a second term on the school board.
“It’s time now to step aside to allow other community leaders the opportunity to serve our outstanding school district,” DeSart wrote in an email. “With utmost respect for our 204 Superintendent, Kathy Birkett, and her entire staff, I believe that I leave the district in a better place than when I joined the board.”
The 10 board of education candidates are vying for four four-year terms and one two-year term. The shorter term arose when former board president Curt Bradshaw stepped down in September after he was appointed to the Illinois State Board of Education. White was chosen from 21 applicants to fill the unfinished term, which expires in 2015, until the spring election, when the voters will select someone to serve the final two years.
Among those who filed for the four available positions on the Naperville District 203 board are incumbent Susan Crotty, Charles Cush, David Fish, Jay Fisher, Kristin Fitzgerald, Derek Krauss, Sabina Qadir, Heather Rajamoney, incumbent Jackie Romberg, Neil Samuels and Donna Wandke.
Current board members Dave Weeks and Jim Dennison, whose terms also will expire in April, had not submitted petitions as of Tuesday. They and the other incumbents who had not yet stepped into the ring did not immediately respond to inquiries about their plans.
