In a race of nine candidates for three spots, it appears East Aurora’s school board president will remain on the board, while two other incumbents seem to have lost their seats to challengers during the election on Tuesday.
Board President Annette Johnson, with 16.61% of the votes, is poised to retain her seat, per unofficial results from Kane County on Tuesday night. Trailing Johnson are Mayra Reyes and Vannia Valencia, with 14.62% and 12.45% of the votes, respectively.
This means current board member Theodia Gillespie, with 12.07% of the votes as of Tuesday night, and board Secretary Bruce Schubert, with 10.38%, appear to have been ousted, according to unofficial election results.
Other challengers trailed the current board members who appear to have lost their seats, according to Tuesday’s unofficial results. Those candidates include April Fitzhugh, Lynda White, Guy Bodie and Mary Fultz.
Of 27,704 registered voters, 14.85% cast ballots for this race, according to election results from the Kane County Clerk’s Office.
Johnson has sat on the board for 16 years, according to past reporting. Gillespie was appointed to the board last year and ran for the first time in this election. Schubert was first elected to the board in 2017, according to the district’s website.
“I’m happy to be able to have a seat at the table and have a louder voice to be able to represent those that are in a similar situation as mine, where I have children in the district,” Reyes said over the phone on Wednesday.
Reyes, a human resources professional and former employee of the district, has three children in East Aurora schools – one in middle school at Cowherd and two in elementary school. This was her first time running for elected office.
As a board member, she hopes to better address bullying in schools, as well as improve special education services and communication with parents. She said she has a child with an Individualized Education Program, a plan that outlines the support and services students with disabilities are legally entitled to.
“There’s so many things that I feel I am left in the dark in,” Reyes said of communication between the district and parents.
Vannia Valencia’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Valencia previously told The Beacon-News she would advocate for revising the budget, creating a newsletter for the district, making communication with families available in “the languages necessary” and adding staff for mental health services.
“Both of them seem to be very community-minded people,” Johnson said on Wednesday.
Schubert told The Beacon-News on Wednesday that he respects the community’s decision, and is proud of the progress the district has made in the eight years since he joined the board.
He said he recalls attending board meetings before he was elected, in which “the district was facing multi-million dollar deficits, referendums were looming, you know, the programming was marginal, the facilities were literally crumbling.”
Citing facilities improvements, stronger finances and better student opportunities nowadays, Schubert said that this kind of change “takes a lot of strong governance of the district and the Board of Education.”
“You always want to leave things better than you found them,” Schubert said on Wednesday. “And so, for me, I’d say mission accomplished.”
Gillespie did not respond to The Beacon-News’ request for comment on Wednesday.
According to district policy, elected board members’ terms begin once the election results are certified and the candidates take an oath of office. The organizational meeting in which new members are sworn in must occur within 40 days of the election.
This is not the only leadership shake-up East Aurora has seen in recent weeks.
In March, Brian Moreno – a 28-year-old graduate of the district and community engagement specialist for the city of Aurora – was approved as a board member, filling the vacant seat left by now Kane County Board member Alex Arroyo. He will serve the rest of Arroyo’s term, which expires in 2027.
Also in March, Robert Halverson took over as superintendent of the district. He will co-lead with outgoing Superintendent Jennifer Norrell through the end of the school year.
Now, with new leadership about to get settled in their roles, Johnson said she’s looking forward to making progress on big projects in the district.
“Obviously, you know, I have a lot of historical knowledge in the district,” Johnson said in a phone call on Wednesday. “I’m happy to be sharing that with the new board members that are coming on.”
She said she wants to prioritize more use of the district’s new Resilience Education Center and bringing in more community partners as well as continuing to get the career center built.
“There’s a lot to appreciate Annette Johnson for,” Reyes said. “But I do think that it’s definitely time for new ideas.”
Schubert said he hopes the board continues to address student achievement.
He said that when it comes to “standardized test scores and SAT scores, that all other districts are measured on,” he wonders why East Aurora “students are not performing where they need to be,” noting that the district’s graduation rate is now pushing 90% after being around 68% just eight years ago.
“It’s great to have a high graduation rate, but the student achievement should be running alongside that parallel,” he said.
Schubert said the board needs to determine what changes the community is asking for by signaling its desire to have new perspectives on the board. He said he plans to continue to serve the East Aurora community “in a different capacity,” but did not say exactly what that would mean yet.
Going forward, Johnson also said she is preparing to help guide the district through challenges related to federal funding for public schools under the Trump administration. And she thinks the apparent switch-up may be part of a broader political trend.
“There has certainly been an era of … change the current people out, get somebody new,” Johnson said. “Obviously, that happened in our city with alderman at-large and with the mayor. … I do feel that’s the political climate is, you know, ‘Let’s try somebody new.’”
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
