2023 Voter Guide: Candidates running for school board elections in Monroe County
Welcome to the Belleville News-Democrat’s Voter Guide for the school board races in the April 4 election in Monroe County.
The News-Democrat has contacted the candidates running in contested seats for school boards and asked them to complete a candidate questionnaire.
While this article has information about candidates in school board races in Monroe County, you can go to this page at bnd.com to get links to read about candidates running for local and school board positions across the metro-east.
Here are the responses from the Monroe County school board candidates who have replied: (The candidates are listed alphabetically.)
Southwestern Illinois College Subdistrict 1 (Includes Monroe and Randolph counties)
NAME: TRACY VALLETT
Age as of April 4, 2023: 46
Campaign website or social media page: Facebook: Tracy Vallett for SWIC Board of Trustees, Sub-District 1
Office seeking: SWIC Board of Trustees, Subdistrict 1
Are you an incumbent? No
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought) No
Occupation: Illinois and Missouri licensed funeral director and embalmer
Education: AAS in mortuary science and funeral service
Please list highlights of your civic involvement: Former President of Family Readiness for the 661st Engineer Company during their deployment to Afghanistan.
Who are your top three campaign contributors? Myself and my husband
Why are you running? Our SWIC Red Bud Campus currently has approximately 35 students and is operating at a loss. However, it’s crucial to maintain the campus for the benefit of the students in Subdistrict 1, who otherwise would have to travel to Belleville for academic classes or to Granite City to pursue vocational training.
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? My top priority in this race is to strengthen SWIC’s relationship with local businesses and schools, and to ensure that all SWIC campuses, including Red Bud, are fully utilized and represent the needs of the community.
Why should people vote for you? I am committed to taking action, making the calls and attending the meetings to ensure that positive changes are made. Together, we can create a brighter future for our students and community.
The BND has not received a response from Southwestern Illinois College Subdistrict 1 candidate Douglas Sachtleben.
Waterloo School District 5
NAME: JO ELLEN (JODI) BURTON
Age: 68
Campaign website: N/A
Office seeking: Waterloo School District 5 Board of Education
Are you an incumbent? Yes
Have you run for public office before? Yes
Occupation: I am retired junior high teacher.
Education: Morton East HS (Cicero,IL); BS in junior high education (Illinois State University); M.S. in reading (Illinois State University)
Highlight your civic involvement: I have served three previous terms on the board and done volunteer work at all of the schools in the district. I’m currently in the Gardner Building with 4th and 5th grade students.
Who are your top three campaign contributors? N/A
Why are you running? Community service is important to me, and ensuring and preserving the quality of the school system for the students and staff is my personal interest.
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? Teacher shortages and retention are huge issues in every district right now and Waterloo is no different. Addressing safety concerns, salaries, mental health and funding deficits are always on our minds as board members. The governor’s proposed Teacher Pipeline Grant Program looks promising. It will be interesting to see how it pans out.
Why should people vote for you? I am the candidate with the strongest background in public education. I’m the only board member who has experience as a classroom teacher, parent, grandmother and school board member. I have been able to contribute valuable insights over the past 12 years on a number of topics that are educational or curricular in nature.
NAME: LORI DILLENBERGER
Age: 59
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/lori.dillenberger
Office seeking: Waterloo School District 5 Board of Education
Are you an incumbent? Yes
Have you run for public office before? Yes, Waterloo School District 5 Board of Education
Occupation: I am an executive assistant.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration
Highlight your civic involvement:
8 years on WCUSD5 Board of Education
Current president of Board of Education
Former secretary of Board of Education
Former Waterloo Athletic Booster Club vice president and chair of various committees
Former Zahnow Elementary School PTO secretary; Learning Centers bolunteer; Room mother
Former WHS post prom volunteer
Who are your top three campaign contributors? My campaign is self-funded.
Why are you running? Waterloo Community Unit School District 5 is an amazing school district. We are very fortunate to have outstanding educators and administrators providing our youth with an excellent opportunity for learning and gaining experiences to prepare them with the tools to excel. The past 2+ years have been challenging ones for everyone and I feel my work on this board is not finished. Educators, administrators, counselors and nurses have reached burnout across the field of education. Students have lost time in the classroom, and some have fallen behind. We’ve added teachers, counselors, training and a new reading program, which has been well received and shown positive results. We need to continue to work together to make the learning environment the best it can be for teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses, and all support staff, to enable our children to catch up and continue to learn and grow to their highest potential.
I think it’s great to see that so many people are interested in serving on the WCUSD5 Board of Education, as the last two elections were uncontested. However, it is important to have some continuity among the board. It takes time for new board members to become acclimated and get up to speed on procedures, policies, rules and to understand what is and isn’t the role of the board member. With four board member positions up for election, if all positions are filled with new board members, that would mean the majority of the board would be first-time members. My goal for running is to serve one more four-year term and help transition any new board members from this election and possibly in the election two years from now.
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on society, especially in education. Educators and administrators are experiencing burnout. There is a shortage of teachers. Students of all ages have been impacted and need extra help to get back up to speed. We need to continue to provide the help needed to get our students back on track and help our employees who are feeling burned out to feel refreshed and recharged again, whether it means additional teachers, additional counselors, additional outside training/motivational resources, etc. We have worked to bring salaries more in line and fill positions as quickly as possible. Continuing to keep close awareness of what it takes to retain our employees and attract new employees, will continue to need to be a top priority.
I believe the experience of the last 2+ years has opened our eyes and caused us to look at things differently than we have in the past. I would like to see us take a closer look at our district. By conducting a district-wide survey, we can learn more about where we’re doing great and where we can improve. This would help us determine any adjustments we could make to bring our district back to the level of excellence we’ve been accustomed to. We’ve learned that people want to be heard and informed. This is the necessary time to take a pulse of our district and improve our communications plans.
Why should people vote for you? I’m proud of the changes this Board of Education has accomplished during my eight years on the board, some of which include: hiring a new law firm to represent our district; hired a new architectural firm, who is currently in the planning stages of a renovation at Zahnow Elementary; voted to update and modernize the WHS grading scale to be more consistent and fair for all students; and continue to bring salaries more in line with the demand of a difficult employment market, in order to retain and attract the best teachers and staff to provide the best educational experience possible.
I’m very passionate about our school district. My entire family and I graduated from WHS. I couldn’t be prouder to give of my time, leadership and decision-making skills for such a deserving cause. Having raised my children through this district, provides me the ability to consider the educational needs of students of all ages. I don’t have a personal agenda. I’m not a complacent board member and not running to just be on the board four more years. There is still more work to do to recover from the issues of the past 2+ years and return our district to the learning excellence our students and employees deserve. I’ve worked hard as a leader of this board to provide calmness and drive cohesiveness and thoroughness.
On behalf of our district, I’ve willingly attended the IASB conferences and district meetings, which have given me the opportunity to stay on top of current topics and learn best practices from attending break-out sessions and hearing guest speakers. If given the opportunity, I will continue to represent WCUSD5 at these educational opportunities. I will also continue to ask questions, consider all sides of each situation, and make well-informed, conscientious decisions on behalf of the students, employees, parents and taxpayers of this district.
NAME: LLOYD JARDEN
Age: 40
Campaign website: N/A
Office seeking: Waterloo School District 5 Board of Education
Are you an incumbent? No
Have you run for public office before? No
Occupation: I am vice president of industrial construction at Murphy Company.
Education: Bachelors of science in mechanical engineering from SIU Edwardsville
Highlight your civic involvement: Locally, I have volunteered at our church and coached youth sports. I have also been involved with Make A Wish and the United Way at work.
Who are your top three campaign contributors? N/A
Why are you running? I have been actively attending the board meetings over the last year and a half. I have noticed that very few of the current board members have children who are still students in the district. As a parent of three young children, I want to be more involved and informed about curriculum and policy changes affecting their education. As well as, encourage more parent engagement and work to retain excellent teachers and staff members.
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? Communication and transparency. I contacted the current board over a year ago, sharing an example of another district’s online platform. I highlighted opportunities to improve the presentation to our district (with the hope to improve online participation). Unfortunately, our board was not interested in improvement, or even make recordings available to the public. Last month, they removed the Zoom attendance option. During COVID, I asked questions and struggled to get answers. I am a proponent of increasing communication, especially if it is simply making the information easier to access. My goal is for parents to be plugged in, not make it difficult for parents to be engaged.
Why should people vote for you? Having grown up on a farm in a small Illinois town, it was important for my wife & I to raise our children in a place with strong hometown roots. We have called Waterloo our home for more than 10 years and hope to someday watch our grandkids grow up here. I work for a major corporation in St. Louis and believe that I can bring a unique perspective to the board where I a utilize my career experience and management skills to aid in maintaining budgets, attract and retain our dedicated teachers and support staff.
NAME: ED LUEDEMAN
Age: 56
Campaign website: N/A
Office seeking: Waterloo School District 5 Board of Education
Are you an incumbent? No
Have you run for public office before? No
Occupation: I am owner of Murphy Flooring.
Education: High school; did not finish college.
Highlight your civic involvement: I have been very active in all youth sports programs for my 27 years of living in Waterloo — from YMCA, Waterloo Sports Association, Waterloo Basketball Association up through coaching high school age. I have been involved with multiple soccer clubs in the area.
Who are your top three campaign contributors? N/A
Why are you running? I want to give back to a community that has helped me and my wife raise a daughter and still helping us raise a son. This is such a great school district that I want to continue growing with. I want to be available to hear concerns of our students and parents and understand from their perspective, but then make the right decision for the district based on what resources we have available.
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? One of the major issues that I do not see talked about enough is the continued recruitment and retention of our incredible teachers and staff that Waterloo is known for. At this time there is not just one answer to this ongoing problem, but I want to work as a group with our administrators and staff to improve this situation.
Why should people vote for you? I have a personal interest, that I take serious, in preserving and improving the quality of our great schools, administrators and staff. I want to improve the public school experience for all children in our district, but do it in a fiscally responsible way.
NAME: NATHAN MIFFLIN
Age: 40
Campaign website: Nathan Mifflin - WCUSD#5 School Board Campaign on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089284668020
Office seeking: Waterloo School District 5 Board of Education
Are you an incumbent? No
Have you run for public office before? No
Occupation: I am a journeyman lineman.
Education: High school
Highlight your civic involvement: I volunteer at my church, Life ChurchX in Waterloo. I currently help coach my son’s Waterloo Sports Association football team.
Who are your top three campaign contributors? 3 individuals contributed who gave a total of less than $500.
Why are you running? Our three boys, who are in the Waterloo School District, are the main reason I began to think about running for school board. No one has a vested interest in the school district quite like parents. That being said, I certainly know that my children are not the only ones that will be impacted by the decisions I make as a board member. I will not take lightly the responsibility to represent so many parents and students from our district. It is critical today that parents have a voice in their children’s education and who better to have a seat on the Waterloo School Board than parents, like myself, who are willing to take on the responsibility. It is equally critical today that school boards act as a bridge between the school district and the community with open communication.
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? Transparency and communication. I think the people of Waterloo want a school board that is open and transparent with the community. If there is one thing that COVID has taught us it is that the school board election is probably the most important race in a local election. There are a lot of people, myself included, that began to understand the impact a good school board can have for a school district and its community. I believe we need open communication that bridges the gap between the public and the school. This is why electing the right people to the board is so important. My efforts to increase communication with the community has already started during my campaign. I opened a campaign Facebook page to get my thoughts and opinions to the voters about how I believe a school board should operate. If elected I will continue to advocate for open communication between the board and the community.
Why should people vote for you? People should vote for me because the only agenda I have is to put the kids first in every aspect of work the board covers. I value maintaining high-quality educational curriculum, school safety, striving for open communication between the board and the community, and doing what it takes to keep and hire good quality employees in the district.
NAME: AMANDA PROPST
Age: 41
Campaign website: Facebook - Amanda Propst for WCUSD #5 School Board, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089707110702
Office seeking: Waterloo School District 5 Board of Education
Are you an incumbent? No
Have you run for public office before? No
Occupation: I am a school social worker at Pathways School/BASSC
Education: St. Louis University, master in social work professional educator licensure with a school social work endorsement Graduated: May 2005; Indiana University, Bachelor of arts: sociology minors: gender studies, human development & family studies Graduated: May 2003; Hong Kong International School, Hong Kong Graduated: May 1999
Highlight your civic involvement:
I’ve worked in education, mental health and child welfare.
Pathways School/Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative, school social worker August 2009 – Present Belleville, Illinois Provides direct individual and group social work services to special education students who have not been successful in the regular education setting due to emotional and/or behavioral disabilities. Provides crisis intervention and consultation as well as serving as a link to community resources.
Chestnut Health Systems, SASS Clinician August 2007 — September 2009 Belleville, Illinois qualified mental health professional, who evaluated youth 21 years or younger, eligible for public funding, for deflection or psychiatric hospitalization. Provided individual and family therapy following community stabilization or hospitalization and served as a link to other community resources to meet the client’s mental health needs.
Illinois Mentor, Program Coordinator April 2006-August 2007 O’ Fallon. Licensed direct child welfare services employee, who strengthened families through service planning, secured child welfare through court representation and maintained and monitored appropriate specialized foster care placements for children with complex behavioral and/or medical conditions.
Catholic Social Services, foster care case manager May 2005-March 2006 Belleville. Licensed direct child welfare services employee, who strengthened families through service planning, secured child welfare through court representation and maintained and monitored appropriate traditional foster care placements.
Who are your top three campaign contributors? I’ve funded my own campaign.
Why are you running? I am seeking the position of school board member because studies show there is a strong correlation between parental involvement and student success. One of the most important roles a board member plays is to serve as a link between schools and parents. Who better to strengthen that link than a parent who is also an educator?
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? I feel there are two key issues of equal importance in the race for school board. Since the pandemic, I have been concerned about the role the governor has played in local education. I believe that kids should be kids for as long as possible and political agendas should not drive curriculum. J.B. Pritzker’s pandemic policies stripped parents of the right to choose whether or not to mask their children and resulted in the disruption of academics and consequently student progress. Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children and politics and personal ideologies have no place in the K-12 school system. I will address this issue by welcoming parental involvement in board meetings. Frequent conversations and collaboration between the board and the community will build trust, transparency and productivity.
As an educator, I have personally experienced the consequences of the teacher shortage and it is undoubtedly concerning. Without a village of teachers, the public school system cannot create academic and social growth amongst its students. I hope to create an environment where we can have honest conversations with Waterloo teachers and support staff about why they are leaving the profession. Their answers will help the school board in crafting policies and building budgets that promote staff retention, community and parent support, and preparing students for life beyond high school.
Why should people vote for you? The Republic-Times covered my participation in a board meeting in October 2021. I encourage voters to read that article as it is my hope that they’ll recognize me as someone who says what they mean and means what they say. I’m not a politician and I promise not to become one. I can assure you that I won’t always have the answers, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get them. I will listen to your concerns to understand and not just simply to reply. While I hope to gain a seat on the school board, I’m just a regular mom trying to ensure my kids and yours have the necessary tools to become independent thinkers and productive adults.
The BND has not received a response from the following candidates: Kim Ahne, Dawn Burns, or Joshua Kurth.
