Rising, Karubas and Grover in Indian Prarie Dist. 204

Indian Prairie Unit District 204 is facing several challenges in the coming years, including reducing class sizes, potential development in Aurora and Naperville and, down the road, possible school boundary changes.

To navigate those issues, it helps to have experienced school board members advising and assisting the school administration.

Luckily for District 204 it has three incumbents running for three 4-year terms in the April 2 local election.

It would be difficult to find a board member who puts in more time in a variety of ways than Mark Rising, 50, of Aurora, first elected in 2011 but who has attended most of the board's meetings since 2006. He's earned his accolades as a stellar board member and continues to do more, such as representing the district's concerns at several Aurora planning meetings on the potential redevelopment and tax increment financing district along Route 59. Rising is endorsed.

Justin Karubas, 45, the current board vice president and an attorney has been on the board since 2013. Before that, he served for five years on the Indian Prairie Education Foundation, and he's a lifelong resident of the district, now living in Naperville. Karubas, too, is endorsed.

The third incumbent only has a few months experience as a board member, having been appointed in fall 2018. Natasha Grover, 46, of Naperville, is an attorney with the Social Security Administration. Mental health of the students is a priority for her. We see no reason to remove Grover just as she is getting started. She is endorsed over the two challengers running - Gautam "GB" Bhatia, 50, a cyber security engineer from Aurora, and Carole M. Jones, a national retail sales manager of Naperville.