Voters deny conservatives a place on U-46 school board
Does the removal of a conservative voice from the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board mean voters prefer a more moderate approach to decision making?
Voters chose Citizens' Advisory Council Chairwoman Melissa Owens and incumbents Donna Smith and Veronica Noland for three 4-year seats over board member Cody Holt, who identifies as a conservative reformer, and fellow Christian conservative Enoch Essendrop, unofficial results show.
Holt, 25, a 2010 graduate of Larkin High School, is treasurer of the Elgin Township Republican Party. He was elected in April 2015 to a 2-year term. Essendrop, 19, is a student at Providence Baptist College in Elgin.
During the campaign, Holt and Essendrop differentiated themselves from other candidates by supporting school choice and charter schools unequivocally and suggested revisiting the district's policy on the use of locker room and bathroom facilities by transgender students.
As of Sept. 6, the district has allowed a transgender middle school student to use the locker room and restroom corresponding with the person's gender identity, which triggered several heated school board meetings where conservatives spoke against making special accommodations.
Holt said Friday he doesn't think his campaign platform hurt him; rather, he believes outside influences from "special interest groups" such as labor unions played a hand in his defeat.
Fiscally conservative candidates did poorly in this election throughout Elgin - at the city council and township levels.
Some of that could be a "Trump effect," Holt said, adding labor groups have been vigilant since President Donald Trump's election.
"They just got their voters out," he said. "Conservative voters didn't come out like they did two years ago."
The election result leaves Jeanette Ward as the lone conservative voice on the school board. Her term is up in 2019.
Ward hopes to build consensus while representing the concerns of her constituency.
"I will continue to work to win the hearts and minds of people and fellow board members through consistent principled reasoning as I have always done," she said. "Those who elected me are counting on me and I will not let them down."
Ward and Holt have voted alike on several issues, including opposing the transgender access policy, the purchase of a new digital literacy curriculum and high school social studies textbooks, tax levy increases, and the adoption of full-day kindergarten districtwide.
They were endorsed in 2015 by Joe Walsh, the former Tea Party activist and former 8th District congressman who has a conservative radio talk show. Walsh again endorsed Holt and Essendrop for their positions on taxation, transparency, curriculum and the district's transgender locker room/restroom access policy.
Smith, 59, current school board president elected to her fifth term, said voters sent a clear signal that they are happy with the district's policies.
"It's saying that we are moving forward in the right direction," Smith said. "I ran talking about a lot of the accomplishments we have had, including full-day kindergarten, increase in AP (Advanced Placement) classes, dual language. I'd hate to say it was just around one issue. It's a broader picture of the total direction we are moving. And we've still got a lot of work to do."
Owens, 48, said she stayed away from politics, focusing her campaign on bringing good programs and resources to the district and keeping the community involved.
"Hopefully, that is what resonated with parents, people in the community," she said. "We need to have a strong public education system. I'm big on community and making sure we are doing what the community needs."