Endorsement: Dykstra, Kerns, Grisson III for West Aurora Unit District 129

West Aurora Unit District 129 has undergone some changes in the last few years. Voters approved spending more than $84 million on new and current buildings. The district has increased its science, technology, engineering and mathematics efforts, at the expense of required weekly library time. The 13,000-student district has a 60 percent poverty rate, and many students don't speak English first.

Only one out of the four candidates running for three seats on the District 129 school board is an incumbent. Valerie Brown Dykstra is seeking her second term. She previously was involved in a variety of district activities, including PTO and PTA boards and booster organizations. She shows passion for the welfare of students, such as by making a heartfelt anti-bullying public statement in 2015 imploring students to "be kind," and she is against dropping students' required library time.

Rich Kerns, a financial adviser, is a member of the district's A-Plus Foundation board and has served on the Superintendent's Community Advisory Committee. He shows a thorough knowledge of district business, and he co-led the group that promoted the $84 million referendum measure to upgrade facilities. Kerns is OK with dropping the required library time in favor of STEM education.

Joe Grisson III is running for the school board for the first time, though he has volunteered for the community for years. In business for himself as a FedEx franchisee and also working in real estate and other ventures, Grisson is a commissioner on the Aurora Housing Authority and has participated in the Kane County state's attorney's office's deferred-prosecution panels as well as several leadership and athletic programs for youths. He doesn't entirely support eliminating required library time but does support revisiting the topic.

Chris Sparks is a Kane County public defender also just starting to get involved with District 129. His wife is a librarian in the district, and Sparks sees the benefits of mandatory library time. Sparks also works with the county's deferred-prosecution program and believes in helping troubled youths with education rather than the juvenile justice system.

Dykstra and Kerns are the most experienced with District 129 and are easily endorsed. Grisson would bring a wider range of experience with youths to the school board than Sparks and is endorsed for the third spot.