At least 2 newcomers will join U-46 board
Four seats are up on the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board this year, but only two incumbents are running to keep their seats.
That creates an opening for at least two new faces, although the four newcomers are all volunteers with long-standing ties to the district.
Board President Ken Kaczynski and 20-year board member Karen Carney are not seeking re-election, making one-term incumbents Maria Bidelman and Amy Kerber the veterans in the race. Their opponents are Gary Percy, Traci O’Neal Ellis, Jennifer Shroder and Mary VanSlyck.
Bidelman and Kerber are hoping to parlay their four years of work on the board, including the approval late last year of an ambitious five-year plan for the district, into another term.
In a recent Daily Herald endorsement interview, Kerber said she and Bidelman, who both have young children in the district, represent parents on the board.
“Both Maria and I are so in the thick of parenting in this district,” Kerber said. “I think that by virtue of that (we are) a little more activist. We have more skin in the game.”
Both Kerber and Bidelman have professional experience in education. Kerber is a former teacher; Bidelman is a school social worker.
In a candidate questionnaire, Bidelman wrote, “With my background in education, I have been able to bring a unique perspective to the board room. I am keenly aware of the small nuances of what goes on in the school house and balance that with the policy work of the district.”
Percy, vice-chair of the Citizens’ Advisory Council and a maintenance technician for American Airlines, said the state’s fiscal crisis prompted him to run for the board. He ran unsuccessfully in 2009.
“What brought me back this time was the fiasco in Springfield with funding,” Percy said. “I believe a board of education should be activist and advocate for their district.”
O’Neal Ellis, an attorney and member of the African American Advisory Council, said she is running to give back to the district she attended.
“U-46 … it’s shaped and molded me,” she said. “It’s where I was educated. I’m a product of this school district and it’s where I got my foundation, my base. It’s largely responsible for my success today.”
Shroder, a freelance editor, said running for the board was a “natural progression” for her. She is currently president of the PTO at Ellis Middle School in Elgin. Shroder said if elected she would focus on improving communication.
“Board members are elected officials who need to communicate more directly with stakeholders,” she wrote in a candidate questionnaire. “The policies we have on paper need to be put into action.”
VanSlyck, a 10-year Citizens’ Advisory Council member and a former career specialist at Bartlett High School, said she would bring that experience to the board.
“I will study the research and ask good questions to hold the administration accountable,” VanSlyck wrote in a candidate questionnaire. “I will use my years of work in the schools and Citizens’ Advisory Council for U-46 to advocate for students.”