Newer members give Dist. 303 board a fresh look

A new era in direction for St. Charles Unit District 303 schools has started and will begin taking shape Monday.

When school board members take their seats next week, five of the seven seats will be occupied by people with less than two years of experience on the board.

The two new members, Corinne Pierog and Steven Spurling, coasted to uncontested victories during the April election. They will wield voting power for the first time at the school board meeting Monday night.

Pierog and Spurling join Scott Nowling, who was elected president of the board this week. Jim Chimienti returns after being re-elected in April and will serve as vice president.

Former President Kathy Hewell and board member Jim Gaffney return as the senior board members with both serving since 2003. Mike Vyzral returns after being elected to a board spot he was first appointed to in January.

Pierog and Spurling said they come to the board with no preconceived agendas, including any additional attempts at the facility improvement referendum proposal that failed in April.

Pierog, however, did say she wouldn't be surprised if the board made another attempt at it in a couple of years.

Pierog first moved to St. Charles in 1998 specifically to send her son through the local school system. He's now set to graduate from St. Charles East High School.

"He's had a great education, just sterling," Pierog said.

With her son moving on, and having a background as a college professor and in special education and nonprofit management, Pierog figured it was time to give something back to the community.

"There's a lot of conversation about schools and school funding right now," she said. "I feel that is something I can assist with. If I had one mantra coming onto the board it would be to continue that sense of community servitude for our students. The other objective is to work as a team."

Spurling has three young children still in the District 303 school system. He ran unsuccessfully in a field of 10 school board candidates the last time seats were up for election.

Now that he's on the board, Spurling believes his main job is to hold the staff accountable for the successes and failures of the district.

"I can't speak for the entire board, but personally I do feel we have some facility issues that we have to deal with," Spurling said. "There's that and possibly getting some of our test scores up."

Look: Two new members say they have no preconceived agendas