The School District U46 citizens’ advisory council has planned a candidate forum ahead of the April 4 school board election, representatives announced this week.
The candidate forum will be at 7 p.m. on March 9 in the main district building, 355 E. Chicago St. It will also be livestreamed via the U46 YouTube channel.
The forum is a traditional event the citizens’ advisory council hosts whenever school board races take place, said Larry Bury, co-chair for the council’s family and community engagement committee.
New to this election, though, is a chance for the public to submit questions for the board candidates. They have asked teachers, parent-teacher organizations and others to submit questions.
“Rather than have the committee members generate the questions, we put out a call to the general U46 community,” Bury told the school board at Monday’s board meeting. “We’re hoping to get a ton of questions in.”
The family and community engagement committee will narrow down the questions if too many are submitted, he added. On the night of the forum, the moderator will get to select questions.
The deadline to submit questions is Feb. 6. Questions can be submitted via email to U46CACForum@gmail.com.
Six candidates will be on the ballot this spring, vying for one of three four-year terms. Three of the candidates are incumbents — board president Donna Smith, Veronica Noland, and Cody Holt. The other three — Enoch Essendrop of Elgin, Tracy Smodilla of Bartlett and Melissa Owens of Bartlett — are first-time challengers; Smodilla previously ran for the state Senate last year, while Owens is the current president of the citizens’ advisory council.
