Slates Split Three District 99 Seats

Update with a correction: 1:50 p.m.*

After the One Community 99 slate  took two of three available seats on the District 99 school board Tuesday night, top vote-getter Mike Davenport summarized what he hoped to see as a board member.

“I hope that there are a lot of unanimous votes after maybe some dissenting points of view and some work to find compromise,” he said.

Davenport and slate-mate Keith Matune will join Nancy Kupka as the three fresh faces on the board in May. Cliff Grammich and incumbent Allyn Barnett finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Grammich was the third member of the One Community 99 slate while Barnett ran as a slate with Kupka. It was the second time in two years Barnett failed to win re-election. He was appointed to a board vacancy in 2010.

Kupka said she is not sure which part of her campaign resonated with voters.

“I don’t know without asking them,” she said. “I hope they saw someone who is well-equipped to do the work on the board and can contribute to the board.”

Kupka said she mostly wants to “keep the ball rolling” as a board. She said the district is sitting well financially.

“We’ve always spent within our revenue stream and I hope we continue to do that.”

Matune said the first thing the board must do is come together with “civility, camaraderie and a real sense of collaboration to move the district forward so that we can do even greater things.”

The District 108 (Roselle) high school teacher said fiscal issues are important, as is managing the master site plan. Matune’s top priority, however, is a “viable and challenging curriculum” that meets the challenges of the modern world.

“I’m not a person that believes in the status quo,” Matune said. “Accordingly, I want to see that my children, who eventually will go to District 99 schools, receive an even better education than I did.”

Davenport said he expects the new board to work well together. He highlighted sitting members Terry Pavesich and Julia Beckman as veterans with valuable experience who will blend well with the new members. Bill White and Deborah Boyle, who both supported One Community 99, are the other two sitting board members.

“That’s the whole thing,” Davenport said. “I think the community benefits from a board with diverse backgrounds.”

Emphasizing communication, Davenport said he wants board meetings to be broadcast on television as soon as possible, and said the One Community 99 slate’s “tour-de-force” trip through the District 99 community and to the meetings of other governmental bodies over the last several months won’t end with the campaign.

“I told the folks at the Downers Grove Parents Club, I told the folks at the Downers South Parents Advisory Committee, I told the folks at the Woodridge Park District and the Woodridge Village Council, this won’t be the last time you see me,” Davenport said. “If I’m on the board, I expect from time to time I’m going to drop in on other meetings.”

Davenport said he was sorry Grammich wasn’t elected, and said low voter turnout could have played a part.

“Too few people voted in this election,” he said. “So few people decide such an important thing for so many.”

Here are the unofficial results with all 107 precincts reporting:

District 99 School Board

* Editor's note: This story erroneously stated the Nancy Kupka claimed a mandate from voters in the District 99 election. Patch regrets the error.