Election 2013: District 99 Board of Education

Patch has your guide to the 2013 election for the Community High School District 99 Board of Education, including candidate bios.

Tuesday Snowstorm Cancels District 99 Candidate Forum

The League of Women Voters of Downers Grove, Woodridge and Lisle has tentatively rescheduled the forum for March 14.

With heavy snow and hazardous driving conditions gripping the Chicago area Tuesday, officials opted to postpone the public forum for Downers Grove school board candidates. The Community High School District 99 candidate forum—hosted by the League of Women Voters of Downers Grove, Woodridge and Lisle—was scheduled for Tuesday night at Village Hall, but was canceled around 5 p.m. due to the snowstorm. "We've heard from two of the candidates and know they can't make it, so we're going to wait until everyone can be there and we can have a better crowd," said Hilary Denk, co-president of the League of Women Voters in Downers Grove. Denk said they are hoping to reschedule the forum for 7 p.m. March 14 at Village Hall. Six candidates are running …

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Downers Grove Speech Teams Take Home 3 State Titles, 12 Medals

The speech team at South High School placed second and North High placed fourth at the IHSA state meet Friday and Saturday.

It was a winning weekend for the speech teams at both District 99 high schools.  Downers Grove South placed second and Downers Grove North placed fourth in the IHSA Individual Events Team State Championship at the speech state meet, held Friday and Saturday in Peoria. In addition, three students—Dan Leahy (South High), Natasha Prosek (South High) and Alex Buckley (North High)—were all crowned state champions in their individual events. South High Results South High’s team, led by head coach Nicole Carreno, captured second place in the state meet. Senior Dan Leahy was named state champion in Original Comedy, and also received third place in Prose Reading. Junior Natasha Prosek is state champion Humorous Interpretation. Three other students …

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Mark Thoman

3:07 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013

South has dominated Speech for decades, a record unmatched in any IHSA competition.. With North picking up the slack, the entire community can applaud the hard working students and coaches from both schools. Well done!   more ›

District 99 Board President Withdraws from Upcoming Election

Incumbent Board President Bill White announced Thursday that he has filed paperwork to formally remove his name from the April 9 consolidated election ballot.

Bill White, incumbent president of the Community High School District 99 school board, has withdrawn his candidacy from the upcoming consolidation election. White, who was elected to the District 99 school board in 2009, announced Thursday that he has filed paperwork to formally remove his name from the April 9 election ballot. In a statement, White said he is proud of the "real and positive change that has come to the District 99 board" and "eager to push forward with new initiatives in support of public education." However, he added, those initiatives will require him "to look beyond the boundaries of any one school district." “Continuing to serve on the District 99 board would legitimately constrain my ability to advocate on behalf of …

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Dan F.

9:13 am on Friday, January 18, 2013

Wish it had been the two crazy Advocates that quit instead.   more ›

District 99 Sends 1,000 Snowflakes to Sandy Hook Elementary School

The Downers Grove school district joined the National PTA last month to create a winter wonderland for students in Newtown, CT.

District 99 Sends 1,000 Snowflakes to Sandy Hook Elementary School

The Downers Grove school district joined the National PTA last month to create a winter wonderland for students in Newtown, CT.

Downers Grove South High School has teamed up with schools across the country to provide a winter wonderland for students in Newtown, CT. The National PTA launched several programs last month to support Sandy Hook Elementary School, the site of the Dec. 14 shooting that killed 20 children and six adults. Among the programs was an initiative to collect paper snowflakes—big and small—to decorate Chalk Hill Middle School in the nearby town of Monroe, where Sandy Hook students are set to return to class Thursday morning. In Community High School District 99, more than 1,000 handmade snowflakes were collected by South High and Transition 99, a program offered to students with disabilities to prepare them for work and daily living. The creations…

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Atheism, Sex-Heavy Movies in Our Schools?

Our continuing look back at 2012 in Darien and Woodridge brings back the issues of sex in movies being shown in school and an atheist speaker at another school.

A lot of times, parents in the suburbs say they enjoy living where they do because of the schools. But what about when the schools invite atheists and show movies that include sexual scenes?  This year, in school districts 99 and 86, people spoke out against various viewpoints that were being allowed in local schools. It's part of our top story series of the 2012 Year in Review. Controversy Over Atheist Speaker Spurs Discussion of District 99 Parent Notification Procedures District 99 school officials received hundreds of emails last month about Downers Grove North's Constitution Week speaker Jessica Ahlquist, a Rhode Island teen who sued her school to have a prayer removed from the gymnasium wall. Soon after Ahlquist's appearance at North…

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Seven File for District 99 School Board

Five candidates—including incumbents Terry Pavesich and Julia Beckman—submitted nomination petitions Wednesday, the final day to file for the April 9, 2013 consolidated election.

Seven candidates will vie for four positions on the Community High School District 99 School Board next April. The District 99 race now comprises four incumbents and three newcomers after five candidates submitted nominating papers Wednesday—the final day to file for the April 9, 2013 election. The latest candidates are newcomers Martin Gorski and Henry P. Jakobsze, incumbents Teresa "Terry" K. Pavesich and Julia Kennedy Beckman, and newcomer Rick Pavinato. They join incumbents Deobrah "Debbie" Boyle and Bill White, who will appear at the top of the ballot after filing Dec. 17. Voters now have five business days to file objections to candidates' nominating petitions. Per election code, a business day is designated as any day an office is …

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Downers Grove Police Investigate School Violence Rumors in District 99, Find No Credible Threat

Police and District 99 officials notified parents Tuesday of rumored incident related to the Dec. 21 doomsday theories.

Unfounded rumors of violent acts at Downers Grove's two high schools Friday—the day many doomsday theorists predict will be the end of the world—prompted an investigation earlier this week by police and district officials. Jill Browning, communications director for Community High School District 99, said a rumor of school violence surfaced Tuesday morning after a student noticed an online comment from another student, who posted about Dec. 21 being the last day in the ancient Mayan calendar and possibly the end of the world. The student who saw the post perceived it as a threat, and reported it to school officials, Browning said. District 99 immediately notified police, who interviewed the students involved and concluded there was no cause…

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J

12:19 am on Saturday, December 22, 2012

Frank, with the heightened security across the nation, I feel as if Community District 99 made the right move. Even if there was no direct threat made, and was later showen to have nothing to worry about, it was better to look into a student made report than to let it go. Somebody felt unsafe, and the district made a good decision to help calm nerves and set aside a comment that could be taken in…   more ›