For the first time in more than two decades there are as many candidates as open seats for the West Aurora School Board, according to a review of Kane County election records.
In a dozen elections dating back to 1991 — the earliest records available on the county’s website — there were contested races.
Incumbents Robert Gonzalez, Allyson “Sonni” Herget, Ira Lathan and Amie Thompson, all of whom live in Aurora, are running unopposed for four open seats in the April 7 election. The terms last four years.
The same day, voters will decide if West Aurora School District can borrow up to $84.2 million to finance school building projects, including an $18 million new Hill Elementary and $10 million worth of additions at five schools.
Last year, 15 district residents asked to be considered for a one-year appointment to the board. Lathan ultimately was selected to fill the vacancy left by former board member Angela Smith, who stepped down and was later hired as the district’s assistant superintendent of operations.
All four candidates expressed surprise that no one new had thrown a hat into the ring.
“I expected at least 10 people running,” Lathan said.
Herget, Gonzalez and Thompson said not having to run a personal campaign had helped keep the focus on the district’s referendum.
Candidates said it was hard to pinpoint why no challengers were running when so many had expressed interest last year, but noted it’s easier to seek a one-year appointment than to run and finance a campaign for a four-year term.
“A campaign is a big deal,” Thompson said. “Doing a forum, which is a debate, is frightening to a lot of people.”
Herget, who’s served four consecutive terms on the board since 1999 and is the sitting vice president, said in the past she’s run campaigns where only one person wouldn’t be seated on the board and where there were twice as many candidates as slots. It depends on what’s going on in the district, candidates’ motivation and what’s going on in their families that year, she said.
“I think it is intimidating and time-consuming to run a campaign,” she said. “I don’t know if you ever get used to that.”
Gonzalez said perhaps the lack of challengers signified a vote of confidence.
“It could mean the community is satisfied with the job we’ve done on the board so far,” he said.
All four candidates voted to put the referendum question on the April 7 ballot. All but Lathan were on the board last year when the decision was made to hire Jeffrey Craig, the district’s superintendent.
In separate interviews, the candidates said moving forward after the referendum — if it passes or doesn’t — would be among the most important issues for the school board in the coming years.
Monitoring the district’s finances at a time of uncertain state funding and working to improve the district’s academic scores, while dealing with changes in learning standards, state testing and teacher evaluations, were also at the top of the list.
Herget is a former elementary and high school teacher who now supervises student teachers. She has two children who graduated from West Aurora in 2000 and 2002.
Gonzalez, who is wrapping up his first term on the board, is a long-time insurance agent in Aurora. His three children graduated from West Aurora in 2001, 2005 and 2009.
Lathan, who was appointed last April, is a software tester for PolySystems in Chicago. He has one child who graduated from West Aurora in 2013 and another who is a junior at West Aurora High School.
Thompson, who is ending her first term on the board, is a science teacher who works with English-language learners at East Aurora’s Simmons Middle School. She has four children, three of whom graduated from West Aurora in 2003, 2013 and 2014.
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Herget, who is the longest-serving member on the board after Neal Ormond, the sitting president, said she wavered back and forth about whether it was time to “pass the baton,” but decided to run for another term in part to help Craig, who is still a new superintendent.
“I like the trajectory we’re on and the enthusiasm and the spunk he’s got,” she said. “I thought this is not the time for someone with experience on the board and in the community to step off right now.”
Thompson said the board that brought forward the referendum had a lot of “unfinished work to do.”
“We’ve been fighting for this for a long time,” she said.
Lathan encouraged members of the public to continue bringing their thoughts and concerns to the school board.
“We shouldn’t be making decisions in a vacuum,” he said. “We need to have feedback and input from the general public, which would include our staff.”