Here's Who Reopen D205 Leaders Back For School Board

ELMHURST, IL — No Elmhurst school board candidates spoke Tuesday during a rally demanding the local school district return to full-time, in-person learning.

In December, one of the residents who filed for the Elmhurst School District 205 board was Leslie Stettin, who is associated with the "Reopen D205" Facebook page that now has about 1,500 members. She later withdrew her candidacy.

With six candidates remaining, it was unclear who Reopen D205 supported for three school board seats up in the April 6 election.

At the rally outside the district's central office, Patch asked a couple of Reopen D205 leaders who they supported. Both Becca Harpster and Michael Booth said they would vote for incumbent Jim Collins and newcomer Athena Arvanitis. Harpster said she had yard signs for the two candidates.

Both Booth and Harpster said they were still considering their third choice. The other four candidates are school board President Kara Caforio, Gordon Snyder, Marie Gall and Laurel Schrementi.

Among school board members, Collins has been particularly vocal about reopening schools.

"Hindsight is 20/20, but I think the school district could have done a much better job of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic," Collins said in response to a Patch questionnaire in January. ""We need to get all of our kids back into their classrooms ASAP."

In a February board meeting, Collins said he wanted quicker action in reopening.

"I just cannot reconcile all of our nearby surrounding districts that have plans to open for a full day, and we have nothing on the table," he said.

In Patch's questionnaire, Arvanitis, an assistant principal at New Trier High School, said the district's most pressing issue was reopening schools.

"I believe the optimal learning environment for students is to be in class with their peers and teachers. I am a strong supporter of maximizing the number of minutes and days our children are in person learning each week while maintaining a robust remote learning environment for students who learn from home," she said. "My goal is to work quickly toward fully and safely reopening our schools. Recent studies have provided ample information supporting the opening of schools and their ability to implement safeguards that limit transmission."

Here are the candidates' questionnaires:

• Athena Arvanitis
• Kara Caforio
• Jim Collins
• Marie Gall
• Laurel Schrementi
• Gordon Snyder