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Jennifer Shroder
Jennifer Shroder was an at-large member of the School District U-46 Board of Education in Illinois. She was first elected to the board in April 2011, and she served until 2015.[1]
Shroder ran for re-election in the general election on April 7, 2015.[2] She lost the election.[3][4][5]
During a candidate forum, Shroder told voters to vote for five of her fellow candidates, including incumbent Traci D. Ellis and challengers Lawrence "Larry" Bury, Susan E. Kerr, Arisleyda Taylor and Kai Rush. She said she would like to serve another term, but felt the others would do just as well, if not better, than she would. With more candidates that think like her than there are seats available, Shroder explained that she feared voters would split their votes between two factions of candidates and change the nature of the board.[6]
Biography
Shroder is the vice president and business manager of Shared Harvest, Elgin Foodstore Cooperative. She formerly worked as a freelance writer and editor. She also used to substitute teach in the district before she was elected as a board member. Shroder earned two bachelor's degrees in English, one from the University of Illinois at Chicago and one from Blackburn College. She and her husband have two children, one who graduated from School District U-46 and another who still attends school in the district.[7][8]
Elections
2015
- See also: School District U-46 elections (2015)
Five of the seven at-large seats on the School District U-46 Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Four of the seats were up for election to four-year terms. One was up for election to a two-year term.
The seats of incumbents Maria Bidelman, Amy Kerber, Linda Campos-Moreira, Traci D. Ellis and Jennifer Shroder were on the ballot. Bidelman, Kerber and Campos-Moreira did not file to run for re-election. The race for the four four-year term seats featured incumbents Ellis and Shroder and the following six candidates: Lawrence "Larry" Bury, Phil A. Costello, Susan E. Kerr, Ed Novak, Arisleyda Taylor and Jeanette Ward. Two candidates, Cody Holt and Kai Rush, ran for the two-year term seat. Brian Sauvageau filed to run for a four-year term seat but withdrew his candidacy in February 2015. Because of this, his name did not appear on the ballot.
Ellis won re-election to a four-year term. Challengers Ward, Kerr and Costello also won four-year term seats. Holt defeated Rush to win the two-year term.
Results
| School District U-46, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Traci D. Ellis Incumbent |
14.6% | 6,155 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jeanette Ward |
14.3% | 5,991 | |
| Nonpartisan | Susan E. Kerr |
14.3% | 5,992 | |
| Nonpartisan | Phil A. Costello |
14% | 5,867 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ed Novak | 13.8% | 5,796 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lawrence "Larry" Bury | 11.8% | 4,979 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jennifer Shroder Incumbent | 8.8% | 3,706 | |
| Nonpartisan | Arisleyda Taylor | 8.4% | 3,531 | |
| Total Votes | 42,017 | |||
| Source: Kane County Clerk, "2015 Consolidated Election Contest Results," accessed April 22, 2015, DuPage County Election Commission, "Election Summary Report: 2015 Consolidated General," accessed April 22, 2015, Cook County Clerk, "Suburban Cook County Election Results," accessed April 22, 2015 | ||||
Funding
School board candidates in Illinois are only required to file campaign finance reports if they accept contributions or make expenditures in excess of $5,000 in a 12-month period.[9]
Shroder reported no contributions or expenditures to the Illinois State Board of Elections in this election.[10]
Endorsements
Shroder was endorsed by the Daily Herald.[11]
2011
| School District U-46, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2011 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Amy Kerber Incumbent |
20.8% | 3,676 | |
| Nonpartisan | Traci D. Ellis |
19.3% | 3,410 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jennifer Shroder |
16.6% | 2,941 | |
| Nonpartisan | Maria Bidelman Incumbent |
16.4% | 2,897 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gary Percy | 15.1% | 2,676 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mary VanSlyck | 11.9% | 2,105 | |
| Total Votes | 17,705 | |||
| Source: Kane County Elections, "2011 Consolidated Election School District Contest Results," accessed March 19, 2015 | ||||
Campaign themes
2015
Shroder highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:
| “ | My issues: 1) FRUGAL USE OF RESOURCES: With the constant erosion of money from the state of Illinois, we are always looking for ways to cut costs so that we don't have to increase class sizes or cut programs that are so beneficial to our kids. This next year looks to be even worse with state funds projected at only 80 percent of the General State Aid (GSA). That means a potential of $30 million plus in lost revenue. Property taxes are the most inequitable source of funds that come into the district and as such, I really hate to rely so heavily on anything so inherently unfair. Cuts will need to be made in a way that is least harmful to the teaching environment. 2) FAMILY ENGAGEMENT: The education of our children is the responsibility of the whole community. Family involvement in schools needs to be encouraged and supported. All data shows that family involvement is a major key to students’ academic success. 3) STRONG LEADERSHIP: Effective school administrators build a learning environment where all students can be successful and teachers are supported. Good leaders welcome parents of their diverse populations into the schools. We need to ensure that every student in this district attends a school with a strong leader at the helm. 4) BOARD COMMUNICATION: Board members are elected officials who need to communicate more directly with stakeholders. In order to do that we started Board Chats. This is a way board members can visit with PTOs, booster clubs or other organizations of schools to make talking to board members easier and less formal.[12] |
” |
| —Jennifer Shroder's campaign website (2015)[7] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Jennifer Shroder School District U-46. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- School District U-46, Illinois
- School District U-46 elections (2015)
- Hot tub Gatorade, turnout in Peoria and the Wisconsin state budget... (April 8, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ School District U-46, "Board of Education Members," accessed March 30, 2015
- ↑ Kane County Elections, "Candidates for School Boards of Education and Regional School Board of Trustees," accessed January 20, 2015
- ↑ Kane County Clerk, "2015 Consolidated Election Contest Results," accessed April 7, 2015
- ↑ DuPage County Election Commission, "Election Summary Report: 2015 Consolidated General," accessed April 9, 2015
- ↑ Cook County Clerk, "Suburban Cook County Election Results," accessed April 9, 2015
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "District U46 candidate backs four of her rivals to avoid split vote," March 13, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Jennifer Shroder, U-46 School Board Member Facebook, "About," accessed March 30, 2015
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Jennifer (Howells) Shroder," accessed March 30, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "A Guide to Campaign Disclosure," accessed March 31, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Disclosure Search," accessed April 6, 2015
- ↑ Daily Herald, "Endorsements: Ellis , Bury, Shroder, Rush for U-46 school board," March 10, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2015 School District U-46 Elections | |
| Kane County, Illinois | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large four-year term: • Incumbent, Traci D. Ellis • Incumbent, Jennifer Shroder • Lawrence "Larry" Bury • Phil A. Costello • Susan E. Kerr • Ed Novak • Arisleyda Taylor • Jeanette Ward At-large two-year term: • Cody Holt • Kai Rush |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
