Rockford Public Schools, Illinois, elections

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Rockford Public Schools
District details
School board members: 7
Students: 27,442 (2022-2023)
Schools: 45 (2022-2023)
Website: Link

Rockford Public Schools is a school district in Illinois (Winnebago and Boone counties). During the 2023 school year, 27,442 students attended one of the district's 45 schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Jump to a section:

Elections School board Location Budget Academic performance Students Staff Schools

Elections

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• 2025
• 2017
• 2015

Per our coverage scope, Ballotpedia does not provide election results for this particular race. Check your city or county government's election website for vote totals.

Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict B

General election

Special general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict B

Patricia Chavez ran in the special general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict B on April 1, 2025.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Patricia Chavez (Nonpartisan)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict D

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict D

Nicole Bennett and Fort A. Zackary III ran in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict D on April 1, 2025.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Nicole Bennett (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Fort A. Zackary III (Nonpartisan)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict F

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict F

Scott A. Anderson and Kimberly A. Haley ran in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict F on April 1, 2025.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Scott A. Anderson (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Kimberly A. Haley (Nonpartisan)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict C

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict C

Incumbent Kenneth Scrivano won election in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict C on April 4, 2017.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Kenneth Scrivano (Nonpartisan)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict E

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict E

Incumbent David Seigel won election in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict E on April 4, 2017.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	David Seigel (Nonpartisan)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict F

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict F

Incumbent Michael Connor won election in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict F on April 4, 2017.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Michael Connor (Nonpartisan)

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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict G

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict G

Incumbent Jaime Escobedo won election in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict G on April 4, 2017.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Jaime Escobedo (Nonpartisan)

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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict B

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict B

Incumbent Tim Rollins won election in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict B on April 7, 2015.

		Candidate
✔		Tim Rollins (Nonpartisan)

---

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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict D

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict D

Incumbent Jude Makulec won election in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict D on April 7, 2015.

		Candidate
✔		Jude Makulec (Nonpartisan)

---

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Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict E

General election

General election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict E

Incumbent Michael Harner won election in the general election for Rockford Public Schools school board Subdistrict E on April 7, 2015.

		Candidate
✔		Michael Harner (Nonpartisan)

---

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Election rules

View election rules

 

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in Illinois are held on the first Tuesday in April every two years in odd-numbered years for all districts except for Chicago Public Schools and Peoria Public Schools.

School board general elections in the Peoria Public Schools District in Illinois are held annually. In odd-numbered years, the school board election election is on the first Tuesday in April. In even-numbered years, the election is on the third Tuesday in March.

School board general elections in the Chicago Public Schools District in Illinois are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.

See law: Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 9-5 and Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 33-1 and Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 34-3

Recent or upcoming election dates for all school districts except Peoria Public Schools and Chicago Public schools

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all school districts except Peoria Public Schools and Chicago Public schools. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

• Filing deadline date: December 21, 2026
• General election date: April 6, 2027

Election system

School board members in Illinois are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

See law: Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 9-5

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in Illinois are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Illinois Statute establishes that school board members be elected in the nonpartisan consolidated odd-year election. Statute establishes a nomination process for school board candidates without a partisan primary or any other sort of nomination by political parties and without party designation by candidates.

See law: Illinois Election Code Sections 10-3.1 and 16-3

Winning an election

The school board candidates that receive the largest number of votes in the general election are elected to office.

See law: Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 9-5

Term length and staggering

Peoria Public Schools as of 2022 had five-year board member terms.

School districts in Illinois except Peoria Public Schools as of 2022 had four-year board member terms.

See law: Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 9-5 and Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 33-1

For all districts that hold elections every two years and have four-year board member terms, as close to half of board members are elected at each election. As of 2022, Peoria Public Schools was the only district with annual elections, and the remaining schools held elections every two years. Most districts have seven board members, which means that either three or four members are elected every two years in those districts.

For districts that hold annual elections, either one or two board members are up for election every year. As of 2022, Peoria Public Schools was the only district with annual elections and had either one or two board members up for election every year.

See law: Illinois Election Code Section 10-10 and Illinois School Code Sec. 34-3 and Illinois Election Code Section 10-10 and Peoria Public Schools Policy

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School districts other than Chicago Public Schools and Peoria Public Schools can have school boards with all members elected at large from the entire district or school boards with members elected by election sub-districts. School districts can have board member election plans (often based on townships) that are grandfathered in, that are based on special acts, or that have been adjusted due to Federal laws on representation. As of 2022, 820 districts (96%) had board members elected at large, and 32 districts (4%) had board members elected by sub-districts.

The school board members of the Chicago Public Schools district and the Peoria Public Schools district are elected by sub-districts.

See law: Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 34-3 and Sec. 34-3 and Illinois Election Code Sec. 2A-1.2 and Illinois School Code Sec. 33-1

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

School board candidates in Illinois must file nomination papers by 106 days before the election. For school districts with elections at the April, odd-year consolidated election, this means the filing deadline is in mid December of even-numbered years for the election in the following year. For 2024 specifically, the legislature passed a law that applied only to Chicago Public Schools that the petition circulation period began on March 26, 2024, and the candidate filing window was from June 17, 2024 to June 24, 2024.

See law: Illinois Election Code Section 10-6

School board candidates cannot file nomination papers until 113 days before the election. For school districts with elections at the April, odd-year election, this means they can begin filing nomination papers one week before the filing deadline in mid December of even-numbered years for the election in the following year. Candidates can begin circulating a nominating petition 90 days before the filing deadline.

See law: Illinois Election Code Section 10-6

 

About the district

School board

To find information about Rockford Public Schools school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members

Name	Seat	Year assumed office	Year term ends
Nicole Bennett	Subdistrict D
Paul Carpenter	Subdistrict E
Kimberly Haley	Subdistrict F
Denise Pearson	Subdistrict A
Grant Schubert	Subdistrict B
June Stanford	Subdistrict G
Tiana McCall	Subdistrict C	2022

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District map

School district map

Overlapping state house districts

Rockford Public Schools

Office Name	Current Officeholder	Party	% School District Covered	% Other District Covered
Illinois House of Representatives District 67	Maurice West II	Democratic Party	50%	90%
Illinois House of Representatives District 68	Dave Vella	Democratic Party	19%	62%
Illinois House of Representatives District 90	John M. Cabello	Republican Party	19%	5%
Illinois House of Representatives District 69	Joe Sosnowski	Republican Party	6%	2%
Illinois House of Representatives District 89	Tony McCombie	Republican Party	5%	< 1%

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Revenue
• Expenditures

Revenue, 2020-2021

SOURCE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Federal:	$53,323,000	$1,994	10%
Local:	$189,384,000	$7,083	37%
State:	$267,244,000	$9,995	52%
Total:	$509,951,000	$19,071

Expenditures, 2020-2021

TYPE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Total Expenditures:	$483,436,000	$18,079
Total Current Expenditures:	$445,312,000	$16,654
Instructional Expenditures:	$268,334,000	$10,035	56%
Student and Staff Support:	$52,586,000	$1,966	11%
Administration:	$60,727,000	$2,271	13%
Operations, Food Service, Other:	$63,665,000	$2,380	13%
Total Capital Outlay:	$20,805,000	$778
Construction:	$11,464,000	$428
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other:	$7,159,000	$267
Interest on Debt:	$5,450,000	$203

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."

• Mathematics
• Reading/language arts
• Graduation rates

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	12	35	2	6	<=20	10	23
2018-2019	14	37	3	11	<=10	14	26
2017-2018	13	36	3	9	<=20	14	25
2016-2017	15	39	4	10	21-39	14	27
2015-2016	16	38	4	12	11-19	14	28
2014-2015	17	40	5	13	<=10	15	29
2013-2014	43	65	23	42	50-59	43	57
2012-2013	41	51	23	30	42	41	52
2011-2012	68	74	53	69	75-79	72	77
2010-2011	68	75	54	70	70-79	72	78

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	16	38	5	10	<=20	15	29
2018-2019	19	43	8	14	11-19	19	33
2017-2018	17	39	6	14	<=20	18	30
2016-2017	20	40	8	15	21-39	21	34
2015-2016	23	46	9	18	<=20	24	37
2014-2015	28	48	15	24	21-39	29	42
2013-2014	39	56	22	34	40-49	41	55
2012-2013	41	49	26	33	36	45	50
2011-2012	60	67	46	58	65-69	64	73
2010-2011	60	69	46	58	50-59	62	72

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2017-2018	65	70-74	54	71	PS	60-64	70
2016-2017	67	75-79	57	73		65-69	71
2015-2016	65	75-79	58	67	<50	60-64	68
2014-2015	67	80-84	61	71	>=50	60-64	68
2013-2014	68	80-84	59	70	PS	75-79	70
2012-2013	64	65-69	53	66	<50	65-69	70
2011-2012	62	70-74	51	60	>=50	70-74	70
2010-2011	72	65-69	67	66	PS	70-79	79

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Enrollment
• Demographics

Year	Enrollment	Year-to-year change (%)
2022-2023	27,442	-1.2
2021-2022	27,766	3.7
2020-2021	26,739	-5.5
2019-2020	28,206	-1.0
2018-2019	28,495	1.2
2017-2018	28,145	-1.6
2016-2017	28,585	0.4
2015-2016	28,459	-0.7
2014-2015	28,650	-1.4
2013-2014	29,046	0.9
2012-2013	28,777	2.3
2011-2012	28,118	-3.0
2010-2011	28,961	-0.4
2009-2010	29,071	2.1
2008-2009	28,471	-3.1
2007-2008	29,353	-0.6
2006-2007	29,515	1.3
2005-2006	29,145	0.9
2004-2005	28,887	1.0
2003-2004	28,612	0.9
2002-2003	28,361	2.4
2001-2002	27,691	1.1
2000-2001	27,399	0.3
1999-2000	27,308	0.0

Racial Demographics, 2022-2023

RACE	Rockford Public Schools (%)	Illinois K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.2	0.3
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander	3.9	5.5
Black	31.1	16.5
Hispanic	31.3	27.5
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Two or More Races	7.4	4.2
White	26.0	46.0

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Teachers
• Administrators
• Other staff

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Rockford Public Schools had 1,549.34 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 17.71.

Teachers, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten:	92.28
Kindergarten:	86.00
Elementary:	951.78
Secondary:	419.28
Total:	1,549.34

Rockford Public Schools employed 48.00 district administrators and 127.85 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Administrators, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators:	48.00
District Administrative Support:	1,162.00
School Administrators:	127.85
School Administrative Support:	145.00

Other staff, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides:	373.50
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors:	152.10
Total Guidance Counselors:	52.40
Elementary Guidance Counselors:	20.60
Secondary Guidance Counselors:	31.80
Librarians/Media Specialists:	18.60
Library/Media Support:	0.00
Student Support Services:	157.80
Other Support Services:	52.60

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

Rockford Public Schools operates 45 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

List of schools

SCHOOL NAME	NUMBER OF STUDENTS	GRADES
Abraham Lincoln Middle School	699	6-8
Arthur Froberg Elem School	435	KG-5
Auburn High School	1,936	9-12
Barbour Two-Way Lang Immersion	636	KG-8
Bernard W Flinn Middle School	830	6-8
Beyer Early Childhood Center	497	PK-PK
Brookview Elem School	470	KG-5
C Henry Bloom Elem School	410	KG-5
Cherry Valley Elementary School	639	KG-5
Clifford P Carlson Elem School	347	KG-5
Conklin Elem School	433	KG-5
Constance Lane Elementary School	573	KG-5
Eisenhower Middle School	961	6-8
Ellis Elementary School	401	KG-5
Fairview Early Childhood Center	523	PK-PK
Galapagos Rockford Charter Sch	365	KG-8
Gregory Elem School	425	KG-5
Guilford High School	2,071	9-12
Haskell Elementary School	278	KG-5
Jackson Charter School	231	KG-5
Jefferson High School	2,114	9-12
Julia Lathrop Elem School	295	KG-5
Kennedy Middle School	380	6-8
Legacy Acad Of Excellence Charter	233	KG-12
Lewis Lemon Elementary	339	KG-5
Maud E Johnson Elem School	391	KG-5
Mcintosh Elementary	333	KG-5
Montessori Elementary School	610	PK-8
Riverdahl Elem School	561	KG-5
R K Welsh Elem School	435	KG-5
Rockford East High School	1,718	9-12
Rockford Envrnmntl Science Acad	1,051	6-8
Rolling Green	486	KG-5
Roosevelt Center	63	9-12
Spring Creek Elem School	501	KG-5
Summerdale Early Childhood Center	473	PK-PK
Swan Hillman Elem School	543	KG-5
Thurgood Marshall Elementary	365	1-4
Thurgood Marshall School	482	5-8
Washington Elementary School	485	KG-5
West Middle School	849	6-8
West View Elem School	420	KG-5
Whitehead Elem School	638	KG-5
Winnebago Co Detention Center	0	6-12
Wm Nashold Early Childhood Center	517	PK-PK

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School Boards	Education Policy	Local Politics	Illinois
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