Who Is Running So Far In Elmhurst D-205?

ELMHURST, IL — As of Tuesday, three Elmhurst residents have filed their paperwork to run for the Elmhurst School District 205 board. None of them are incumbents.

The residents are Laurel Schrementi, Athena Arvanitis and Nicole "Nikki" Slowinski.

The board members whose seats are up in the April 6 election are President Kara Caforio, Margaret Harrell and Jim Collins.

The first day to file was Monday, but candidates have until next Monday to submit their paperwork.

Arvanitis is the assistant principal for student programs and operations for New Trier High School. The North Shore school serves about 4,000 students on two campuses, about half the enrollment of Elmhurst School District 205, which serves all grades.

New Trier is one of the wealthiest schools in the state. According to the Illinois Report Card website, 3 percent of New Trier's students come from low-income families, compared with 15 percent in Elmhurst.

Schrementi is a senior active learning designer with John Wiley and Sons in Oak Brook, where she has worked since 2014, according to her LinkedIn page. She is a former teacher in Indiana.

Slowinski is the director of leadership development for Advocate Aurora Health, according to her LinkedIn page. She is a former adjunct instructor at Elmhurst College.

In Illinois, school board members are unpaid. During the pandemic, school boards nationwide have found themselves caught in the crossfire between parents calling for in-person education and teachers unions favoring remote lessons.