Oak Lawn School District Board Races Take Shape

OAK LAWN, IL — Oak Lawn’s public school boards are up for renewal in the April 4 consolidated election. Every other year in odd numbered years, elections are held for municipal, school, park, library, township and other local governmental bodies.

The deadline to submit nomination petitions for candidates to get their names on the ballot was Dec. 19. These are the candidates who filed to run in local school board races.

Ridgeland Dist. 122

The Dist. 122 Board of Education race is uncontested. Dist. 122 includes Simmons Middle School, Columbus-Manor, Kolb, Lieb, Harnew and Ridgeland Dist. 122 preschool. Candidates are:

• Raelin Tread (incumbent)
• Jean Reising (incumbent)
• Rocio Vail

Oak Lawn-Hometown Dist. 123

The Dist. 123 Board of Education race is contested. Six candidates are running for three open seats for full, 4-year terms. The candidates are:

• Jennifer Fortier (incumbent)
• Adriana Sebak (incumbent)
• Natasha Miller Williams
• Danille Mobley
• Kifaya Naser-Hammad
• Ed Smykowski

Schools in Dist. 123 included Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School, and Hometown, Covington, Harnew, Sward and Kolmar elementary schools.

Atwood School Dist. 125

Four incumbent candidates are running for the Dist. 125 Board of Education in an uncontested race. Schools in the district include Lawn Manor (Oak Lawn), Meadow Lane (Merrionette Park) and Hamlin Upper Grade Center (Alsip). Candidates include:

• Esteban Sanchez Gayton, of Alsip
• Melissa Castillow, of Merrionette Park
• Tamara Balcinas, of Alsip
• Victoria L. Soderlund, of Merrionette Park

Alsip, Hazelgreen, Oak Lawn Dist. 126

Two candidates have filed to run for Dist. 126 Board of Education. The district includes Prairie Junior High School; Hazelgreen, Lane and Stony Creek elementary schools; and the Early Childhood Center.

• Joe LaChica (incumbent)
• Muna Salah Conley

Community High School Dist. 218

The CHSD 218 Board of Education has three open seats in the upcoming election. Residents vote for board members representing their subdistrict. Three candidates have filed to run in the April 4 election:

• Shelia P. Collier, of Robbins, is running in Subdistrict 1, representing all or parts of Crestwood, Robbins and Blue Island.
• Carol A. Kats, of Worth, currently serves as vice president of the board. Kats is running in Subdistrict 5, representing all or parts of Worth, Palos Heights and Chicago Ridge.
• Nora J. Hunt, of Oak Lawn, is running in Subdistrict 6, representing all or parts of Oak Lawn and Chicago Ridge.

Dist, 218 includes Richards, Shepard and Eisenhower high schools, and Delta/Summit Learning Center and the Adult Transition Program for young adults 18-22 with disabilities.

Oak Lawn Community High School Dist. 229

There are four openings on the OLCHS Dist. 229 Board of Election. Three candidates have filed to run, including:

• Matt Egan, who has served on the Dist. 229 board since 2011;
• Safaa Zarzour, lost the 2021 race, but was appointed to fill the vacancy last year when another member was removed from the school board via a public resolution. Zarzour is running for an unexpired 2-year term and will serve.
• John Hickey is currently president of the Spartan Educational Foundation.

A fourth board member will be appointed at a future date.

Write-In Candidate

For the consolidated election, a write-in candidate must file a notarized “Declaration of Intent To Be A Write-In Candidate” form no later than 61 days prior to the election. The declaration must be filed with proper election authority, in the case of school board candidates, the Cook County Clerk, by 5 p.m. Feb. 2. Write-in votes are tallied after the ballots are counted. Only write-in candidates who filed a declaration of candidacy will be counted in an election.