Samreen Khan

This page was last updated during the official's most recent election or appointment. Please contact us with any updates.

Samreen Khan

Nonpartisan

School District U-46 Board of Education At-large

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

April 4, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

University of Illinois, Chicago, 2022

Graduate

University of Denver, 2006

Personal

Birthplace

Elgin, Ill.

Profession

Government affairs

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

Samreen Khan is an at-large member of the School District U-46 Board of Education in Illinois. She assumed office on May 1, 2023. Her current term ends in 2027.

Khan ran for election for an at-large seat of the School District U-46 Board of Education in Illinois. She won in the general election on April 4, 2023.

Khan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Samreen Khan was born in Elgin, Illinois. She earned a graduate degree from the University of Denver in 2006 and a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 2022. Her career experience includes working in government affairs.

Elections

2023

See also: School District U-46, Illinois, elections (2023)

General election

General election for School District U-46 Board of Education At-large (4 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for School District U-46 Board of Education At-large on April 4, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Susan E. Kerr (Nonpartisan)	20.5	11,236
✔		Kate Thommes (Nonpartisan)	20.3	11,097
✔		Chanda Schwartz (Nonpartisan)	16.6	9,086
✔		Samreen Khan (Nonpartisan)	16.3	8,932
	Submit photo	Maureen Morris (Nonpartisan)	13.8	7,567
		Heather Manzella (Nonpartisan)	12.4	6,791

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 54,709
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Samreen Khan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Khan's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I decided to run for the U-46 school board after navigating district policies and programs for my child, who had received Early Intervention at home. As a single-mother, I was thrilled to have access to the amazing Pre-K programs for my son. The resource-rich programming supported his education journey at U-46 right from the start. At U-46, we are privileged to have skilled teachers, administrators, and staff at our schools. As a board member, I will ensure that they are supported, while being held to the highest standards. I will make the success of our students my number one priority. I will be an advocate for students and will work to guarantee that they graduate with the skills needed to be successful in life and contributing members of society.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Putting students first
• Fiscal Responsibility
• Academic Excellence - equitable education

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

1. Fiscal responsibility:

Explore all viable options before raising property taxes/levies
Ensure more direct resources to students and in the classrooms
Pro-transparency
2. Expansion of services and provisions for families in need
Enhance the service provision at the U-46 Welcoming Center by collaborating with local organizations
Social and mental health resources and care to be available 24/7 to students
3. Ensure safe and productive learning environments where all students can achieve academic, social and emotional success at their own independent levels.
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
Ensure that all board decisions prioritize students

4. Strengthen relationships with state and local governments to bridge service and programmatic gaps in an effort to improve the quality of life for students and families of U-46.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

The board is guided to provide leadership, ensuring student safety and academic excellence is the main point of contention for any policy or curriculum controversy.

Who are your constituents?

Everyone in U-46

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

When I served as the Governor’s surrogate to diverse communities in Illinois, I collaborated with a variety of stakeholders including federal, state, and local elected officials, community leaders, national and international organizations, and individual constituents. When leading and coordinating discourse especially as it related to policy, I found it instrumental to remain neutral and provide a safe platform for all voices to be heard. Encouraging continuous stakeholder engagement and community outreach will be a priority for me on the school board from coordinating focus groups, surveys, and in-person meetings. It has been my experience that the most effective policies are the ones in which the community experiences a direct beneficial impact from and has been a part of in developing. As for elected officials it is imperative to maintain open lines of communication with the community in order to ensure the best policy decisions.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

The ETA: Elgin Teacher's Association & IEA Region 63 Union

Describe your ideal learning environment for students.

A safe, open academic environment that challenges students.

What are your preferred strategies for faculty, staff, and administration recruitment?

I am greatly invested in serving on the board in order to preserve and improve the quality of education for our children. From my 20 year experience both as a government liaison and subsequently as a private consultant, I understand the importance of building relationships with private and public sector stakeholders. I also understand the importance of ensuring that policy recommendations are data driven and take into account stakeholder concerns. School districts in Illinois have many opportunities to utilize education funding from federal and state grants. For example, Congress has a bill creating a competitive pay rate for teachers to a minimum annual salary of $60,000 through a grant incentive program that is direly needed in U-46. Raising the bar in education requires investing in the future of our children by respecting our educators. Furthermore, I have extensive experience working with budgets and program management, and look forward to contributing to a coll

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2023 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

School District U-46 Board of Education At-large

Website

Twitter

Personal

LinkedIn