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player ready...In what’s looking to be a major upset on the School District 219 Board of Education, three longtime incumbents likely lost their bids for reelection to three candidates on an unofficial four-person slate backed by local teachers unions.
According to preliminary results with all 65 precincts reporting, incumbents Sheri Doniger and Jeffrey Greenspan both finished with 8 percent of the vote, and incumbent Eileen Valfer had 7 percent of the vote, according to the Cook County Clerk’s office.
Among the 11 candidates seeking one of four openings on the school board, challengers Brian Novak, David Ko, Mark Sproat and Linda Lampert held leads over their opponents, with Novak getting 15 percent of the vote, Ko getting 14 percent, Sproat getting 13 percent, and Lampert getting 11 percent.
Ko—the only incumbent to regain a four-year seat—did not respond to a call reaching out for comment Tuesday night. Novak and Sproat also did not respond to calls.
Carlton Evans, who ran unopposed for a single two-year opening on the board, won the seat.
Doniger and Valfer were unavailable for comment, but Greenspan said he was disappointed to lose his seat to what he described as “union-run leadership.”
“It’s disappointing to the community because the community doesn’t realize this kind of change isn’t good for the community—they’re not proposing anything about the future like taxes or education-related issues, and it seems to be all about vacations.”
One point of contention for School Board candidates in this election was a decision made by the School Board to change the school calendar by adding an extra week to winter vacation to allow students to take their final exams before the new year.
“I served 16 years on the School Board—I know what we’ve accomplished, and I don’t know why the community didn’t see that,” Greenspan said. “I still don’t know what [his opponents’] complaints are, other than the issue of the calendar, which is what the students wanted.”
Of the four candidates endorsed by Progress219—a group with ties to the North Suburban Teachers Union Local 1274 (NSTU) and the Niles Township Federation of Teachers (NTFT)—three candidates won.
Ko, Novak and Sproat were endorsed by Progress219 along with Lateef Farisa Hussain, who fell behind her unofficial slate with 10 percent of the vote.
The four candidates publicized their run for the school board together with campaign signs and literature that included all four of their names, although they never officially registered as a slate.
Linda Lampert said she was looking forward to her chance to start working to put new communications strategies in place on the school board.
“I want to see more open communication between the board and the parents and the community,” Lampert said. “I’m just glad that we will see some changes in the district. I think that’s really the bottom line—why so many people ran and I feel bad that the incumbents haven’t won, but I think it says a lot about what the voters want.”
Challengers Jon Heinz and Franklin Sacks came out of the election with 5 percent of the vote each. Bennett Santana had 4 percent.
In all, 5,958 ballots were cast in the Niles Township election, with a voter turnout rate of about 10 percent.
For 30-year Lincolnwood resident Kalliopi Antonakos, the School District 219 board race was the main reason she decided to cast a ballot in this year’s election.
“I wanted to see new faces on the school board, and it’s up to the voters to make sure the candidates are well-qualified,” Antonakos said. “My kids went to school here, and this is important because it’s our community.”
* Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.