Incumbent District U-46 School Board members Veronica Noland, Dawn Martin and Melissa Owens will not face opposition in the April 1 election.
With nominating petitions due Monday, no challengers emerged for the three open seats, each of which has a four-year term.
“I am honestly a bit surprised by this, especially given the numbers of candidates in some other local school board elections,” said Martin, a Bartlett resident. “Our last two elections did have more candidates than seats, but by a small margin. Offhand, I do not know historically when this last occurred.”
Owens, who currently serves as the board’s president, said she too expected there would be some challengeres.
“I’m still looking forward to the opportunity to engage with voters through the election cycle,” said Owens, also of Bartlett.
She speculated that things like the cost of running a campaign and the time required to sit on the board could be factors.
“I do think we need to investigate why,” Owens said. “Public school systems need a pipeline of future advocates and leaders.”
U-46 is not the only local school board race with a dearth of candidates. According to the Kane County Clerk’s Office elections website, Geneva School District 304 has four candidates running for four 4-year terms and no candidates filed to run for Educational Service Region Kane 31, which has two 6-year terms and two unexpired 2-year posts to fill.
However, Aurora West School District 129 has six candidates for three 4-year seats; Aurora East School District 131 has nine candidates for three 4-year seats; Batavia School District 101 has six candidates for four 4-year seats; Burlington Central School District 301 has nine candidates for three 4-year seats and two candidates for an unexpired 2-year term; Kaneland School District 302 has five candidates for three 4-year terms; and St. Charles School District 303 has eight candidates for four 4-year terms.
Martin was elected to the U-46 board in April 2021. She said she chose to run again to see the district’s facilities work through to completion, continue to work with staff on issues driving student success, and to delve more into state mandates, how they affect the district, and what the board and district can do about them.
“I look forward to continuing to support our families and help them understand the many options U-46 has to offer students,” she said.
The “Unite U-46” facilities master plan and boundary changes being made to address changing enrollment numbers represent big shifts for the district, Martin said. Board members are working with administrators as plans are made to close some schools, construct new buildings or add to others, and shift sixth-graders from elementary to middle schools.
“We have spent many hours addressing changes to our buildings,” she said. “We did choose to close some schools, but this will allow us to redraw boundaries and better level the student population at each school. Thousands of students will have access to either new or updated learning environments, which in some cases is long overdue.”
During a second term, Martin said she wants to see what the board can do to help the state’s elected officials understand the toll mandates take on school districts and push for changes in mandates already approved.
“I have learned much more about this over the last three years, and my frustration levels have greatly increased,” she said. “Mandates take away our local control, which I know is an issue for many districts, but more importantly they limit what our students can do course-wise and add items that can be seen as unnecessary. Also, many mandates are unfunded, which puts financial stress on our districts and communities.”
Owens said some of the board’s biggest accomplishments since she first became a member in 2017 include addressing the district’s financial and debt management and its capital planning.
“Prior to our bond referendum in 2023, we successfully reduced our existing debt obligations ahead of schedule,” she said. “Strategies such as property tax abatements and bond repurchases substantially reduced interest payments. That’s included our bond refinancing last November that saved $20 millions in interest expenses.”
According to the district’s current forecast, U-46 will be able to accomplish its Unite U-46 plan of $380 million in capital expenditures with a lower overall debt service than previously estimated, Owens said.
“We certainly have difficult tasks ahead in determining new school boundaries and prioritizing additional necessary capital outlays. I chose to run for reelection because I want to continue to lead this work.”
Noland, an Elgin resident who was first elected to the school board in 2013, could not be reached for comment.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
