ETHS, D-65 Elections: Who Will Be Elected To Evanston School Boards?

EVANSTON, IL — With only two incumbents running for three open seats on each of Evanston's public school boards, there are bound to be new faces elected on Tuesday in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and Evanston Township High School District 202.

In District 65, three newcomers are running for the board. Two challengers are seeking seats on the ETHS board.

That means a trio candidates on the ballot are set to miss out on a seat — the lowest two vote-getters in District 65 and the ETHS board candidate with the fewest votes.

Here's who is running for each board:

Evanston/Skokie School District 65

Sergio Hernandez, the current board president, was first appointed to the board in January 2017 before winning a full term on the board in April 2019, becoming the first Latino elected official in Evanston history.

Hernandez has spent the past seven years as equity lead for the Illinois State Board of Education and more than two decades as a bilingual educator. He pledged to focus on improving equitable access to resources, prioritizing strong relationships within the district and with other institutions and exercising fiscal responsibility.

Related: Evanston School Board Candidate Profile: Sergio Hernandez

Mya Wilkins is the other incumbent on the ballot in District 65. Wilkins, a marketing research executive director for a major bank and parent of two middle school-aged students in the district, was first appointed to the board in October 2022.

Wilkins identified three of the top persistent challenges facing the district as an opportunity gap, shortages of educators — especially those with specialized skills — and upgrading and maintaining facilities. Before joining the school board last year, the 17-year Evanston resident served as an organizer for the district's African, Black and Caribbean Group events, as a PTA Equity Project representative and as one of the founders of an affinity group for Black families at Walker Elementary School called Walker Black Students Achieve.

Related: Evanston School Board Candidate Profile: Mya Wilkins

At least one of the following three incumbents is set to join the District 65 board:

John Martin has two elementary school-aged children in the district and has previously served as commissioner of the Evanston American Youth Soccer Association, where he touted his experience getting more than a thousand kids back to playing soccer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Martin, a tax accountant for a software company, said he would be a fiscally-minded board member who would make the board's decisions and deliberations more transparent. He said there has been too much rubber-stamping by the board and advocated for ongoing exit interviews of families who leave the district.

Related: Evanston School Board Candidate Profile: John Martin

Ndona Muboyayi is making her second run for a seat on the board. Two years ago, she came in fifth place, missing out on a seat by fewer than 500 votes.

Muboyayi is an Evanston native who has served as the president of the Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee of District 65 and the African-American, Black, and Caribbean Parent Group. She is also a member of the executive committee of the Evanston North Shore Branch of the NAACP and an advocate with Evanston Cradle to Career, according to her website. As recently as October, she was identified as a leader of the Evanston chapter of Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, or FAIR, but Muboyayi said recently she had left the group.

Omar Salem, teaches English as a second language and business at Niles North High School in Skokie, although he is currently on leave working with the Illinois Federation of Teachers as a union professional issues director.

In 2019, Salem obtained a real estate license; in 2021, he was appointed to the city's Equity and Empowerment Commission and he recently completed the coursework necessary to become a chief school business official, according to his website. Salem said the wellbeing of students must always be the top priority, district-level communication must improve, teachers need to be given more time and support and it is possible to fiscally responsibly increase services for students.

Evanston Township High School District 202

Monique Parsons is the CEO of the McGaw YMCA and current vice president of the ETHS board, to which she was first elected in 2015.

Parsons said she is seeking a third term on the board due to what she described as a sense of urgency to make sure district families get the resources they needed. Despite leaving non-white students behind and a downward trend in math and literacy test scores, Parsons said she believes ETHS is the best high school in the country and the best is yet to come.

Related: Evanston School Board Candidate Profile: Monique Parsons

Liz Rolewicz is the other incumbent running for school board. Rolewicz, a stay-at-home parent currently doing freelance work, is seeking a second term on the board.

Rolewicz identified disparities in outcomes between students based on the race and disability status of students as her greatest concern at the district. She said she was committed to having sometimes uncomfortable conversations about issues at ETHS and called for the creation of a culturally relevant curriculum and school climate to ensure students feel valued and appreciated.

Related: Evanston School Board Candidate Profile: Elizabeth Rolewicz

Leah Piekarz, a retired ETHS counselor with more than two decades of experience, described herself as an independent thinker who would approach the board's work with an informed and critical lens.

Piekarz, who was elected six times to three-year terms on the Teachers' Council Executive Committee, said she wants to elevate the voice of students. Administrators, she said, need to be creative in finding creative ways to take tasks off teachers' plates to allow them to focus on teaching.

Related: Evanston School Board Candidate Profile: Leah Piekarz

Kristen Scotti is an ETHS parent, Northwestern University PhD student and first-time candidate who pledged to bring a disability lens to the high school board.

Scotti, who identified herself as a disabled lab scientist and first-generation, non-traditional college graduate, said she is the only candidate who has advocated consistently for an intersectional approach to equity work.

Related: Evanston School Board Candidate Profile: Kristen Scotti

Also in ETHS District 202, incumbent Mirah Anti is running unopposed as the lone registered write-in candidate for a two-year term on the board. Anti is the director of equity and inclusion for Township High School District 113, which is composed of Deerfield and Highland Park high schools. She was first appointed to the board in 2021 after fewer people ran for the board than there were open seats.