11 seek District 300 board vacancy

A former two-term board member is among a whopping 11 people seeking to fill the vacancy created when John Ryan resigned from the Community Unit District 300 school board earlier this month.

Mary Warren, who served on the school board from 2001 to 2009, when she decided not to seek re-election, was one of the people who submitted her application by last week's deadline.

Warren, a teacher in another school district, took time off from the board to pursue her National Board Certification, which indicates a teacher has met national standards designed to promote quality teaching.

In comparison to the 11 who applied for the one vacancy, only six people vied for three open seats during last year's board election.

The other applicants are: Christopher J. Adkins, Vinod and Kalpana Aggarwal, Stephen J. Fiorentino, John R. Messina, Karen Plaza, Leslie Russo, Bob Sharp, Krena Barbara Signorini and Frederic Steinhaus.

Kalpana Aggarwal is a former teacher who wants to increase the rigor of District 300's curriculum to better prepare students to compete globally.

"The students are losing their interest. We are not challenging (them)," said the mother of two school-age daughters. "It's global competition. It's coming over here. We need to be prepared for that."

Vinod Aggarwal, Kalpana's husband, is also vying for the vacancy.

Messina, who works in electronics sales, is the father of two kids who attend District 300 schools.

"It just seemed like a nice opportunity for me to give back to the community and get involved," Messina said. "The biggest concern is money. I come from a business background, so I think I can help with that."

Plaza, the wife of Lake in the Hills Village President Ed Plaza and mother of two District 300 graduates, has served on eight pro-tax increase committees and worked for the district - first as a teacher's aide, then as an accountant - from 1998 to 2007.

"The decisions that have to be made over the next few years lend themselves to my background, which is finance and accounting," Plaza said.

Russo is a parent who has served on the district's education committee and handled communications for Advance 300, the 2006 pro-referendum group.

"It's always been something that I've been interested in," said the mother of two children in the district. "When my kids were smaller, I wasn't sure it was going to work out. This seems like a good opportunity to see if it will work out."

Phone calls placed to the other candidates were not returned.

The board plans to interview the candidates at a public meeting Thursday and select a new board member at the same meeting.