With union support, establishment candidates turn back critics of gradual school reopenings
Updated 4/7/2021 2:00 PM
Voters throughout the Northwest suburbs sent educators a message Tuesday for the most part endorsing the gradual reopening approach most districts have taken in response to the pandemic.
In school district after school district, candidates who put a priority on listening to the health experts were elected, apparently often with the help of teachers unions.
This was the case in Glenbard High School District 87, Stevenson High School District 125, Palatine-Schaumburg Townships District 211 and Northwest Suburban High School District 214.
But there were exceptions: In Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 and Barrington Unit District 220, voters split their choices between measured reopening candidates and those who were strongly critical of the remote learning environment.
Reopening debate fuels school board candidacies in Northwest suburbs
School board candidates from across the suburbs lined up early Monday to be among the first to file paperwork with the Cook County clerk s office at Old Orchard Country Club in Mount Prospect. Rick West | Staff Photographer
Updated 12/15/2020 7:40 PM
Amid the heated debates in recent months over school reopenings, some Northwest suburban school districts are seeing larger-than-usual fields of candidates who intend to run for their local school boards in April.
More than 480 school board candidates submitted paperwork on the first official filing day Monday across four locations set up by the Cook County clerk s office. That included 140 candidates who stood in line to hand in their petitions at Old Orchard Country Club in Mount Prospect.