Election 2011: District 203 Incumbents Retain Seats; District 204 Adds New Members

The celebration was under way at as the three incumbents in the race for Board of Education were celebrating retaining their seats for four more years.

Voters have re-elected Mike Jaensch, Terry Fielden and Suzyn Price to another terms on the board of education. Price has the most experience of any of the members and will be serving her third term on the board.

Meanwhile, will have two new members on its board. Curt Bradshaw, an incumbent retained his seat, but current member Alka Tyle did not. Voters elected Lori Price and Mark Rising to fill the seats on the board.

At Front Street Cantina, Fielden, Jaensch and Price were in full celebration mode. Price received the most votes of any of the three candidates. Bethany Weeks and Jay Fisher were running to try and unseat at least two of the three incumbents.

Fielden said he felt really good about the win.

“I am pleased to have another four years to serve,” he said. “I put a lot of hard work into my service and the voters believe in my integrity and honesty.”

Turnout in the election was not strong with many precincts reporting 10 percent of voters casting ballots.

Fielden attributed the low voter turnout in part to the fact that voters were happy with the way things were going and happy with the school district and the board members.

Now that he’s been re-elected Jaensch, currently board president, said the board needs to continue building upon its accomplishments; working to continue integrating technology into the curriculum, being competitive globally, keeping standards high while raising the bar.

“I think more than anything it’s the community saying we’ve done a good job over the last four years and they want us to continue to do that four another four years,” Jaensch said about the re-election of the three incumbents.

Price said that it was good to have competition during the race, because running for office “shouldn’t be a cakewalk.”

She also said that turnout was low but that it was an indicator of how people felt about what the district and board was doing. She said, however, that doesn’t mean the district can "rest on its laurels," it needs to keep improving.

Moving forward, Price said the district needs to finish up its construction projects, make sure that other buildings get needed updates and that the board continues working to improve special education and science, technology, engineering and math education (STEM).

“I hope we continue to improve and provide a great education for our kids,” she said. “I hope we continue to be the reason people want to move to Naperville.”

To the voters, Price said: “Thank you for voting.”

At newly elected member Mark Rising comes to the board with experience on the Special Needs PTA and the Parents Diversity Advisory Council at Granger Middle School, among his activities.

In his candidate biography, Rising said: “I want to see IPSD be the best school district in Illinois.  I want every student to reach his or her full potential and have the best teachers.  I bring with me strong IPSD knowledge, financial knowledge and diversity of thought that has been missing from the school board for a number of years.

"I want to continue to make it affordable for families currently here and families considering IPSD 204 as their future home.”

Lori Price also brings significant district knowledge with her to the board.  She is currently serving in her fourth and final year as the president of the Indian Prairie Special Needs PTA. Last year she organized the “Caravan to the Capitol” to voice opposition to state budget cuts to education.

"I am pleased with the win and am looking forward to working with the current board and District 204 administration," Price said early Wednesday morning. "I've learned so much about the district in my service over the years and am eager to continue the work of moving this district ahead despite the impact of unstable funding from our state.   I welcome the opportunity to look at ways to preserve and improve upon the educational excellence that will enable all of our students to succeed, mindful of how this affects our taxpayers."

Bradshaw is the current board president at District 204 and has been a member of the board since 2005. He had mixed emotions about his win.

“I am truly humbled and honored for the opportunity to continue serving the District 204 community. And, I look forward to continuing our progress toward becoming Illinois’ premier school district," Bradshaw said in an e-mail Wednesday morning. “We will deeply miss Alka.  Her leadership has meant a great deal to the board and district.”

Rising could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.