Indian Prairie School District 204 elections (2017)
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Four seats on the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. Incumbents Michael Raczak and Cathy Piehl were re-elected. Newcomers Laurie Donahue and Susan Taylor-Demming also won seats on the board. Candidates Vasavi Chakka, Renata Sliva, Marland Brazier, and J. Randy Sidio were defeated in the race.[1][2]
Piehl, Raczak, and Taylor-Demming participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Indian Prarie School District 204 Board of Education consists of seven members elected at large to four-year terms. Elections are held on a staggered basis every odd-numbered year. A general election was held on April 4, 2017. There were four seats up for election.[3]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file a notarized statement of candidacy and notarized nominating petitions with the DuPage County Clerk's Office during the filing period. The filing period began December 12, 2016, and ended December 19, 2016. Candidates could also file an optional loyalty oath at that time. A statement of economic interests also had to be filed by December 19, 2016. The nominating petitions had to include the signatures of 50 voters residing in the school district and could not be circulated until September 20, 2016.[4]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Indian Prairie School District 204, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Cathy Piehl Incumbent |
17.39% | 5,291 |
| Michael Raczak Incumbent |
17.09% | 5,199 |
| Susan Taylor-Demming |
16.85% | 5,126 |
| Laurie Donahue |
16.40% | 4,990 |
| Vasavi Chakka | 10.27% | 3,123 |
| J. Randy Sidio | 8.92% | 2,714 |
| Renata Sliva | 8.84% | 2,690 |
| Marland Brazier | 4.24% | 1,290 |
| Total Votes | 30,423 | |
| Source: DuPage County, Illinois, "Election Summary Report," accessed May 1, 2017Will County, Illinois, Clerk, "April 4, 2017 Consolidated Election," accessed May 1, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Cathy Piehl 
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Michael Raczak
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Marland Brazier | Vasavi Chakka | ||||
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| Laurie Donahue
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J. Randy Sidio | Renata Sliva | Susan Taylor-Demming
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Illinois elections, 2017
The Indian Prarie School District 204 Board of Education election shared the ballot with races for the regional school board.[5]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Illinois school board elections in 2017:[6]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 19, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| February 27, 2017 | Initial campaign finance deadline |
| March 7, 2017 | Last day to register to vote by paper application |
| March 19, 2017 | Last day to register to vote by online application |
| April 3, 2017 | Final election campaign finance deadline |
| April 4, 2017 | Election Day |
Endorsements
The Daily Herald endorsed incumbents Cathy Piehl and Michael Raczak and challengers Laurie Donahue and Susan Taylor-Demming.[7]
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
School board candidates in Illinois were required to file campaign finance reports if they did one or both of the following:[8]
- Accepted contributions or made disbursements in an aggregate amount of more than $5,000 during the calendar year
- Accepted contributions or made disbursements in an aggregate amount of more than $5,000 during the calendar year for communication via television, radio, or internet in support of or in opposition to a candidate, political party, or public policy
The first campaign finance deadline was February 27, 2017, and the second campaign finance deadline was April 3, 2017.[9]
Reports
No contributions or expenditures were reported in the election, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.[10]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
Survey responses
Three candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from incumbents Cathy Piehl and Michael Raczak and challenger Susan Taylor-Demming.
Hope to achieve
When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Piehl stated:
| “ | Four major issues we face are the budget, building maintenance, possible boundary adjustments, and student achievement. All these issues are intertwined with how well we communicate with the community. We have a great deal at stake, and it will be our collective responsibility to ensure our community will embrace the need to ensure excellence in our students’ education. Measuring our goal for academic achievement has been difficult with the many moving parts of curriculum and testing changes over the years. These discussions have caused us to consider an approach that will look at the “whole” child. We want to adopt alternative ways that consider ‘authentic learning’ when we measure college and career readiness. A final issue I intend to continue to pursue is legislation that will eliminate the presence of students in our schools that are utilized as polling locations. It is an unnecessary risk we should not have to make.[11] | ” |
| —Cathy Piehl (March 27, 2017)[12] | ||
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Raczak stated:
| “ | I hope to continue the history of academic and extra-curricular excellence that characterizes our school district.[11] | ” |
| —Michael Raczak (March 26, 2017)[13] | ||
When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Taylor-Demming stated:
| “ | My father was a Deputy Base Commander and in support of his responsibility, my mother spent a great deal of time serving military families, most often women and children. Her commitment and her passion were infectious, and she instilled in my brothers and me the responsibility of service. Earning my BA-Rice University and MBA-Columbia University, often involved extensive urban youth mentoring. An Illinois resident of 21 years, I’m a proud member of St. John, AME serving as a Church school teacher. I’ve served 8 years as a Girl Scout Leader and past Girl Scout Board Member. A 15 year PTA member, I’ve served as past committee chairs and board officer. In 2007, as our district grappled with tenuous d boundary decisions, I ensured school board communications were transparent, constant and immediate, as IPSD Citizens Communications Advisory Committee member. Professionally, I have a strong corporate background and significant Not for Profit experience. As a Viacom Marketing/Sales Director, I had responsibility for a $33 million budget negotiating contracts for network distribution (MTV, VH1/Nickelodeon) and understanding the importance of arts in schools, provided financial donations to large urban school systems via VH1’s – Music In School’s /Save The Music initiative. More recently, as a consultant, I have gained an astute understanding of state budgeting and grant implementation, as I have developed and directed initiatives for Youth Education and Workforce Development. My desire to serve as an IPSD 204 School Board member is a direct result of many of the areas I’ve shared from my background and I am confident position me to serve in an exemplary manner. My service commitment has often surrounded children in the community, so I understand the needs of upper middle class children and am especially attuned to the needs of economically disadvantaged students in our district.[11] | ” |
| —Susan Taylor-Demming (March 27, 2017)[14] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays their rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Piehl's ranking | Raczak's ranking | Taylor-Demming's ranking | |
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Improving relations with teachers | Did not rank | |||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Improving post-secondary readiness | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | Did not rank | |||
| Improving education for special needs students | Did not rank | Did not rank | ||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer nine multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to their responses can be found below.
- Cathy Piehl's survey responses
- Michael Raczak's survey responses
- Susan Taylor-Demming's survey responses
About the district
| Indian Prairie School District 204 is located in DuPage County and Will County in northeastern Illinois. The county seat of DuPage County is Wheaton, and the county seat of Will County is Joliet. In 2015, DuPage and Will Counties were home to 933,736 residents and 687,263 residents, respectively, according to the United States Census Bureau.[15][16] The district was the fourth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 28,327 students.[17] |
Demographics
Both counties outperformed Illinois as a whole in terms of higher education achievement in the years 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 46.7 percent of DuPage County residents and 33 percent of Will County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 32.3 percent of all Illinois residents. The median household income for DuPage County was $79,658 and for Will County was $76,101, while it was $57,574 for the entire state. The poverty rates in DuPage and Will Counties were 7.1 percent and 8.0 percent, respectively, while it was 13.6 percent for the state as a whole.[15][16]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[15][16] | |||
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| Race | DuPage County (%) | Will County (%) | Illinois (%) |
| White | 80.7 | 80.2 | 77.3 |
| Black or African American | 5.3 | 11.9 | 14.7 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Asian | 11.6 | 5.6 | 5.5 |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or more races | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 14.3 | 16.8 | 16.9 |
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Indian Prairie School District 204 Illinois election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Indian Prairie School District 204 | Illinois | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ DuPage County, Illinois, "Election Summary Report," accessed April 5, 2017
- ↑ Will County, Illinois, Clerk, "April 4, 2017 Consolidated Election," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ Indian Prarie School District 204, "IPSD 204 Board of Education," accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ DuPage County, "Candidate Information," accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ DuPage County, "Candidate List and Propositions," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election and Campaign Finance Calendar," accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ Daily Herald, "Endorsements: Donahue, Piehl, Raczak, Taylor-Demming for Indian Prairie Unit District 204 Board of Education," March 19, 2017
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "A Guide to Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed January 5, 2017
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election and Campaign Finance Calendar 2017," accessed January 5, 2017
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Disclosure Search," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Cathy Piehl responses," March 27, 2017
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Michael Raczak responses," March 26, 2017
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Susan Taylor-Demming responses," March 27, 2017
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 United States Census Bureau, "DuPage County, Illinois," accessed January 3, 2017
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 United States Census Bureau, "Will County, Illinois," accessed January 3, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Indian Prairie School District 204 elections in 2017 | |
| DuPage County, Illinois and Will County, Illinois | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Cathy Piehl • Incumbent, Michael Raczak • Marland Brazier • Vasavi Chakka • Laurie Donahue • J. Randy Sidio • Renata Sliva • Susan Taylor-Demming |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
