School board seats contested in four Skokie districts

Skokie residents will be voting for school board members in the upcoming April 1 election. Districts 65, 68, 73.5 and 219 all have contested races for four-year teams that will go through 2029.

Skokie School District 68 has seven candidates running for four seats on the education board. The candidates are Anne Warshaw, Janna Simon, Shira Roth, Joseph Ruffner, Noelle Sullivan, Jill Scheer and Jeremy Alan Glickman. Ruffner is the current board president, and Sullivan and Warshaw are also running for re-election.

A District 68 candidates forum will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11 at Old Orchard Junior High School. It is sponsored by the Parent Teacher Associations of the District 68 schools.

Niles Township High School District 219 has four candidates running for three seats. They are Lindley Wisnewski, Nour Akhras, Kandice Cooley Jones, and Eric C. Brown. Cooley Jones is the current vice-president of Skokie-Morton Grove School District 69 Board of Education, and Wisniewski is a member of the District 69 board.

A District 219 candidates forum is also scheduled for Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Niles West High School. The forum will take place in the Niles West South Lobby, and is sponsored by Niles West Student Government.

Skokie School District 73.5 has six candidates for four seats. They are Matthew Paul Gliebe, Karen Chan-Elarde, Elana R. Jacobs, Victoria Wolfinger, Samuel Joshua Goldstein, and Peter Dluhy. Wolfinger is the lone incumbent in this race. Jacobs currently serves as secretary on the District 219 school board.

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 has a crowded field of 12 candidates running for four seats with no incumbents seeking re-election. The candidates include Andrew Wymer, Brandon Utter, Heather Vezner, Chris Van Nostrand, Christopher DeNardo, Lionel Gentle, Daniel Lyonsmith, Nichole Pinkard, Peter Bogira, Randall 'Randy' Steckman, Patricia S. Anderson, and Maria Forres Opdycke.

Skokie-Morton Grove School District 69 has incumbent Dan Freeman running unopposed for a two-year term.

Fairview School District 72 has three candidates running for three seats. They are Hobert Whitworth, Diana Diakakis, and Jacqueline Bujdei. Diakakis and Bujdei are both running for re-election and are the current board president and board secretary, respectively.

East Prairie School District 73 has four seats with candidates Atanu Das, Ignacio Lopez, Erick Tumang, and Joseph Saucedo running. Das and Tumang currently serve on the board as president and vice-president, respectively. Lopez also serves on the board and is running for re-election.

In the Evanston Township High School District 202 race, Mirah Anti, Patricia Savage-Williams, Patricia Maunsell and John Martin are running for four seats. Anti, Savage-Williams and Maunsell are incumbents.

Early voting begins on March 17, and local voters can vote at the Skokie Courthouse, 5600 Old Orchard Road. Skokie residents may vote at any suburban Cook County early voting locations. The Cook County Clerk’s Office has a full list of locations and hours here.