Libertyville School District 70 is likely to see three new faces on the school board according to unofficial results from the April 6 election.
Four full-term seats and one spot for an unexpired two-year term were up for grabs.
According to unofficial results as of Friday, with all precincts reporting, Travis McGhee is leading the count for the full, four-year terms with 16.75% of the vote. Behind him is Jennifer Khan with 16.31%, and incumbent board member Angela Balanag in third place with 15.40%. Rounding out the four leading vote-getters is Brian Lawton with 15.04%.
According to the Lake County clerk’s website, the unofficial vote totals include provisional ballots and late-arriving vote by mail ballots. However, per state law, election results are not final until 14 days after Election Day.
For the unexpired two-year term, current board President Wendy Schilling is ahead with 57% of the vote versus 43% for challenger Lauren Marks, unofficial results show.
Marks was part of a group of parents that announced their intentions to run in response to the district’s handling of school building closures due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, the parents took issue with the district not having an option for in-person instructionlast fall.
The other parents included in this group and also on the April 6 ballot were Callie Johnson and Evan Williamson. According to the unofficial election results, Johnson received 13.44% of the vote and Williamsom 12.16%. McGhee was the fourth parent in the group, and is currently the only one of the group in contention for a seat on the board.
The parents were also participants in and organizers of a series of protests that took place last year, where parents and students spoke about the struggles with remote learning and demanded that both SD70 and Community High School District 128 offer an in-person learning option to students.
Colin Lane, also on the ballot, received 10.89% of the vote, according to unofficial election results.
Both incumbents in the race appear to have secured reelection. Three others on the board whose terms expire this month, Marc Grote, Chris Coughlin and Tom Vickers, did not seek reelection.
SD70 plans to have students return to the building for full-time, in-person instruction starting April 12, which will include having students in-class five days per week.
