Contested races for 21 Lake County school boards
Editor's note: Eva Cole accidentally was left off the list of Barrington Area Unit School District 220 candidates.
Every Lake County school board will have at least three seats up for election in April 2019 - but fewer than half drew enough candidates to create contested races.
Of the more than 50 local school districts either based in Lake County or crossing into the county, only 21 will have contested races come springtime. In all the rest, the number of open seats matches or exceeds the number of candidates.
The filing period for the April 2 election ended Monday.
The districts with contested races include: Barrington Area Unit School District 220; Fremont District 79, which is headquartered near Mundelein; Hawthorn Elementary District 73 in Vernon Hills; Millburn Elementary District 24 in Old Mill Creek; Mundelein Elementary District 75; Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128; and Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50.
In Barrington District 220, five candidates are running for three seats with 4-year terms. They are: incumbent Angela Wilcox and newcomers Mathew W. Gray, Leah Collister Lazzari, Eva Cole and Barry Altschuler.
In Fremont District 79, six candidates are running for three seats with 4-year terms. They are: incumbents Gabriela Whipple, Agnieszka "Aga" Macoch and Michael Jandes and newcomers Ryan Wollberg, Ronald J. Swartzand and Dave "Whitty" Whitson.
In Hawthorn District 73, six candidates are running for four seats with 4-year terms. They are: incumbents Robin Cleek and Sonali Patil and newcomers Lenny Nieves, George Fievet, Joel Finfer and Michael Murphy. Incumbent Victoria Helander-Heiser is the only candidate for a seat with a 2-year term in District 73.
In Millburn Elementary District 24, six candidates are running for three seats with 4-year terms. They are: incumbents Carissa Casbon and Irsha A. Khan and newcomers Stephen Gray, Sean Coleman, Jeffrey Flary and Arde Orie.
In Mundelein District 75, seven candidates are running for three seats with 4-year terms. They are: incumbents Matthew Rehm, Fred Goldman and Alexandria Avila and newcomers Lisa St. Clair, Kristie Cary Fingerhut, Elisa Camp and Jessica Neyzelman.
In Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area District 128, five candidates are running for three seats with 4-year terms. They are: incumbents Lisa Hessel, Katherine "Casey" Rooney and James Batson and newcomers Loubna Kilouine and Elizabeth Bruckner.
Also in District 128, newcomer Don Carmichael is the only candidate for a seat with 2-year term.
In Woodland District 50, four candidates are running for three seats with 4-year terms. They are: incumbent Elizabeth Helgren and newcomers Renea Amen, Nasima Patel and Ryan Koehl.
For a full list of candidates, go to lakecountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13059/Candidate-List.
Although the deadline to appear on the ballot passed, candidates for these and other offices may still materialize. The deadline to file as a write-in candidate is Jan. 31.
Early voting begins March 18.
If Election Day passes and there aren't enough candidates to fill open seats, boards will appoint people to fill vacancies.
Races for village, library district, park district, township and fire district boards - along with a few mayors and village clerks - also will be decided in April.