Incumbents reelected in Stevenson 125 school board race

The incumbents on the Stevenson High School District 125 board fended off challenges Tuesday from candidates who questioned both the board's response to the pandemic and district finances.

Fei Shang, who was appointed last August, and Steve Frost and Gary Gorson, who have been on the board for 20 years, were reelected Tuesday to 4-year terms. Shang had 3,261 votes, Frost 3,208 and Gorson 2,834 in unofficial vote totals.

They defeated challengers Nicole Grimes with 2,260 votes; Barb Tolbert with 2,222; and Lalit Jagtap with 1,262.

Robert Lewis, who dropped out of the race but remained on the ballot, earned 611 votes.

District 125 was among the first in the suburbs to opt for fully online learning for the fall semester. Tolbert and Grimes blasted the board for not coming up with a plan to get students back in classrooms sooner.

The incumbents stressed at most the district could have brought students back for a few weeks before the second wave hit in October. That's when Lake County health officials urged all county schools to switch to virtual learning in light of a "substantial" community transmission of coronavirus cases.

Tolbert, Grimes and Japtap also questioned the board's spending on construction and other financial issues.