Incumbents leading in District 300 school board race

A hotly contested race drew eight candidates for four seats on the Community Unit District 300 school board.

Throughout the campaign, candidates debated everything from community trust and parental involvement to student achievement and teacher burnout.

Unofficial vote tallies Tuesday showed voters backing incumbents Nancy Zettler and Stephen Fiorentino, along with newcomers Olutola "Tola" Makinde and Randi Gauthier.

District 300 serves more than 20,000 students from 15 communities in Kane, McHenry and DeKalb counties.

Zettler, Makinde and Gauthier overcame a petition challenge from opponents who sought to have them bounced from the ballot.

Unofficial vote totals showed Zettler with 5,227 votes, Fiorentino with 3,875 votes, Gauthier with 3,757 votes and Makinde with 3,478 votes. Connie Cain had 3,154 votes, Robert Reining garnered 2,953 votes, Kristina Konstanty had 2,916 votes and Laurie Parman received 2,438 votes.

Konstanty faced sharp criticism from opponents and was removed from a school board meeting in January for what board members deemed as electioneering. During public comment at the Jan. 10 meeting, Konstanty, who wore a red "Vote Kristina" shirt, spoke about her candidacy before she was gaveled out and security was called to remove her.