Smith, Noland, Napolitano take U-46 seats

Incumbent board President Donna Smith is the highest vote-getter for the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board, according to unofficial results with 99 percent of precincts reporting late Tuesday night. Veronica Noland finished next with Frank Napolitano taking the third open seat.

A diverse and crowded field filed for three 4-year seats on the school board where Smith was the lone incumbent, aiming for re-election after more than a decade of service.

With almost all precincts reporting, Smith had 7,226 votes. Noland had 6,935 votes and Napolitano, who gave up his seat on the Bartlett Village Board for the U-46 race, had 6,292 votes.

Noland said she wanted to work right away to improve communication between the district and the community.

“That can be implemented so fast and it affects so many other areas,” Noland said. “ ... Especially discontent and reputation.”

Napolitano said his first order of business is to start asking tough questions. He said board members must take more time to evaluate the impact and unintended consequences of their decisions before votes.

“Before I say yes I need to know why I’m saying yes,” Napolitano said. “It doesn’t mean I always have to say no but a lot of times decisions are made quickly without a lot of fact-finding.”

Elgin Community College admissions coordinator Linda Campos-Moreira, South Elgin High School senior Andrew Giggey and former U-46 Citizens Advisory Council vice chairman Gary Percy were also in the race. This was Percy’s third attempt at the school board.