Two incumbents return to District 300 board with two challengers

An earlier version of this story should have included votes from Cook County.

Incumbents Stephen Fiorentino and Joe Stevens and challengers Leslie LaMarca and Nancy Zettler secured four 4-year terms on the Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 school board Tuesday.

Unofficial vote totals from Kane, McHenry and Cook counties show Zettler secured the most votes, 2,884, followed by Fiorentino with 2,753, LaMarca with 2,657 and Stevens with 2,619. Incumbent Kym Garcia of West Dundee came in last with 2,608 votes.

School board member Susie Kopacz of Hampshire, whose term expires in April, did not seek re-election.

Zettler, of Algonquin, is an attorney who served on the District 300 school board's legislative committee from 2012 until 2014. She previously ran unsuccessfully for the 66th House District and 33rd Senate District seats.

"First I'd like to focus on finding funding sources that will not raise property taxes, and might help reduce the district's levy," Zettler said. "I'm very excited to have been elected and I'm excited to get to work. I've been involved in the district for two decades."

Fiorentino, of Algonquin, was first elected to the board in 2011. He works in his family's financial planning practice and also is the founder and owner of Fiorentino Consulting LLC.

LaMarca, of Pingree Grove, is president of the District 300 Food Pantry. She served as director of the Northern Kane Educational Board from 2012 through May 2018.

Stevens, of Pingree Grove, was first appointed to the board in 2006 and later elected in 2007. He is a retired executive from Sherman Health, currently president of Nine Rivers Enterprises and does leadership training for consulting companies, and former chairman of the Greater Elgin Family Care Center.