Patricia Anderson, Nichole Pinkard, Maria Opdycke and Andrew Wymer lead the race for the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education, according to unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk’s office as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day are still being counted, and official results are not immediately available. Voters could select up to four of 12 candidates when voting.
The new board members will be sworn in as the district combats a $13.2 million deficit with its Structural Deficit Reduction Plan and prepares to consolidate its schools in the coming years.
Anderson, who spent 30 years of her career working in District 65 as a physical therapist, has earned the most votes, with 9,752 votes of the 18,957 ballots counted.
During her campaign, Anderson told The Daily she wants to regain the community’s trust while implementing the district’s SDRP and generating criteria for school closures. She also emphasized the importance of building relationships with the rest of District 65’s board members.
A professor at Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy, Pinkard has received 8,249 votes. She has argued that data should guide all of the district’s decisions and should be accessible to the public. She said this transparency would allow the District 65 community to better understand the “hard” choices the board will make about school closures.
Opdycke, who has earned 7,155 votes, said community engagement should be the cornerstone of the district’s financial plan. The Foodsmart vice president of clinical operations said this would ensure the District 65 community is aligned with the board’s decisions.
Wymer has received 6,525 votes. A professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Wymer focused his campaign on educational equity and building a strategic plan that reflects the District 65 community’s values. He said he wants all students to have the experience his children had in the district and to feel a strong sense of belonging and empowerment.
The four new members will fill the seats currently held by board members Soo La Kim, Biz Lindsay-Ryan, Joey Hailpern and Donna Wang Su. None of the incumbents sought reelection.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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