The final piece of the puzzle for who will be the fourth of four new school board members in Butler Elementary District 53 won’t officially be known until DuPage County has canvassed vote totals April 27 from the April 6 election.
However, the county has released unofficial vote totals for write-in candidates, which show Syed Ibrahim Ali with nearly twice as many votes as the next closest of three candidates who ran as write-ins after not filing petitions to be on the ballot.
For the unofficial write-in vote totals, Ali had 272, followed by incumbent board member James Chow, 141, and Elizabeth Weselak, 112.
Of the three candidates who filed petitions to be on the ballot, with all precincts reporting, Craig Donnelly had the highest unofficial vote total with 29.78%, followed by Kavitha V. Neerukonda, 25.33% and Sahar Ahmad, 22.44%. The 505 vote total for Ahmad was identical to the total number of votes cast for the three write-in candidates.
Donnelly said before the election that developing a plan to return all students to in-person learning, with extracurricular activities, is a priority for this fall.
“I am very proud that Butler District 53 has been a leader among our peer districts in providing in-person instruction during the 2020-2021 school year,” he said. “We must make every effort to further that mission and return to as close to a ‘normal’ school environment in the fall of 2021. Our children’s success depends on us making this happen.”
Neerukonda said before the election that building trust and transparency in the board’s decision-making process, with date-driven input, is very important. She also wants to see a stronger partnership fostered between the board, administration and teachers.
“The past year has taught us the importance of two-way communication and flexibility amongst us all,” she said
Ahmad said District 53 has faced a lot of administrative change in the past few years.
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“While some change is necessary for growth, I am concerned that too much change may lead to instability,” she said.