Endorsement: Szczupaj, Taylor, Annerino, Wang for Palatine Township District 15 board
Voters in Palatine Township District 15 have five strong choices for the four, 4-year seats open on the school board. Four are incumbents — Lisa Beth Szczupaj, who has worked in the construction chemicals industry for 32 years; James J. Taylor, a school-based occupational therapist; Frank Annerino, a mechanical engineer; and Anthony Wang, the head of a Montessori school. Challenger Eric Bachmann is a retired middle school and elementary band director.
Incumbent board members say the district is in a good position, having put its Moving 15 Forward plan into motion after voters in November 2022 approved a $93 million tax hike to fund full-day kindergarten and building upgrades, redraw school boundaries and replace junior highs with middle schools.
As well, the district and its teachers’ union in November 2024 agreed to a contract change with more competitive salaries that could attract new teachers and help keep others from leaving the district.
Board president Szczupaj attests to how well the board works together. “Anthony, Frank, and I ran together for seats on the board of education in 2017,” she said. “Despite our different backgrounds, perspectives, and voices, we grew to respect each other tremendously … This respect laid the foundation for a highly functional board that has achieved significant accomplishments over the past eight years.”
Indeed, during a joint interview, we noticed more similarities than differences in the candidates’ views, although they differ in some of their goals.
Annerino, the board’s vice president, says the district’s educators do a great job of adapting their teaching to students who speak different languages. He suggests finding ways to incorporate artificial intelligence as a teaching or learning tool.
Taylor, elected in 2021, says “inclusion is my platform.” He wants to minimize the number of self-contained programs and see more special education students integrated into general education settings.
Wang, a father of five who sits on the board’s finance committee, wants to see District 15 become a destination district for families and staff alike. If elected, he intends to serve only one more term, until his children are no longer in District 15.
Szczupaj wants to ensure a solid transition to programming improvements following the investment in facilities from the Moving 15 Forward initiative.
Bachmann highlighted the importance of collaboration, transparency and communication. He would like to see more diversity in the district’s hiring choices; more reading materials from diverse authors and a curriculum that takes into account different perspectives.
With the positive changes already under way in the district, our inclination is to retain the incumbents, who are doing a fine job. Szczupaj, Annerino, Taylor and Wang are endorsed.