Five candidates for the District 225 School Board, incumbents Sydney (Skip) Shein and Marcelo Sztainberg, and newcomers Paul T. Kelly, Sandra Muhlenbeck, and Jim Geldermann, will run in the April 4 election that will determine three out of seven positions on the board, Matthew Whipple, President of the Teacher’s Association, said.

Serving as a member of the school board is a voluntary position, Whipple explained. To run for school board, one must be a United States citizen, a resident of the state of Illinois and of the school district for at least one year preceding the election, at least 18 years of age, a registered voter,  and not be a school trustee, according to the Illinois Association of School Boards. School board members approve the district budget, set graduation requirements, contribute to curriculum and hires, and conduct bimonthly meetings in which they interact with the community and discuss the ongoing activities of the district, establishing goals and initiatives, Whipple explained. 

School board elections, such as the April 4 election, occur biannually, Whipple said. Establishing a candidacy consists of completing paperwork from the Village of Glenview and obtaining at least 50 signatures on a petition, Tara Tate, Social Studies Teacher, explained. The April 4 school board election requests for candidacy were due in Dec. 2022, and have been verified to introduce public campaigning, Tate said. 

“Once [the candidates’ requirements] are certified, the slate of candidates [is released] for the April election,” Tate said. “Candidates then start the campaigning process, trying to get local endorsements for their campaign, and the vote happens in April.”

To vote in the election, Glenview citizens must be at least 18 years old on the day of the election, Tate said. Students can register during a school-wide voter registration drive that will take place later this year, she explained.

Aside from the voter drive, South is not doing anything to prepare for the elections, Principal Dr. Barbara Georges explained. However, Georges acknowledged the school board’s importance as it is an essential component of any form of school leadership; the board can determine the rules, values, policies, and procedures of the district.

“While [the school board does not] make daily decisions and aren’t the ones in classrooms teaching, they’ve crafted the policies that define what [being in school] will be like,” Georges said. “School boards [represent] the values and beliefs of the community.”

Once the election is over and the new members take their roles, the district will set up relationships with the members and catch them up to speed with what is going on in South and North, Georges said.

“[The district’s goal is to make] sure that [the newly elected school board] can seamlessly come into [their] position and quickly have a deep understanding of what is happening at [South],” Georges said.