D303 school board candidate not running just to cast referendum vote

As the son of a longtime school board member in Indiana, Mike Vyzral said he knows it would be a mistake to seek a seat on the St. Charles Unit District 303 school board solely to cast a vote on the district's potential $265 million tax increase referendum.

In fact, if he were voting on the issue today he wouldn't feel informed enough to make a wise decision.

"I can't answer," Vyzral said of his current stance on the referendum. "I have to look at all the information. You have to vote with your head not your heart."

More information on that referendum will come in just a few weeks as the results of a random phone poll of registered voters in the district on the potential tax increase are shared with the community. Vyzral said he's attended most of the district's summit meetings on the referendum. However, he did not attend the straw poll meeting where attendees were asked to cast a vote with colored dots about what the school district should ask for.

"I want to be part of the solution to things that are happening right now in the St. Charles community," Vyzral said. "I want to be on the board not just for one issue."

That's partly because Vyzral is directly invested in the schools through his two sons. One is a high school freshman. The other son is in sixth grade. Vyzral said he will run as a candidate in the April elections for a full term on the school board whether or not he's appointed to the open school board seat vacated by Bob Lindahl last month.

Vyzral will learn his path to the school board tonight when the current board members interview him and two other candidates to fill Lindahl's seat. The board is expected to appoint one of the three candidates to Lindahl's old seat immediately following the interviews.