The Huntley Farmside

              Inside • Grafton Township meeting agenda High School math team goes to state
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The Himtiev Famiside
Thursday, April 1,1999
A Press Publications newspaper ai/ serving the Huntley community
Volume 38 Issue 51
Four candidates vie for three School Board seats
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications
As the District 158 School Board gathers in April to kick off the construction of two new elementary schools, there could he at least one new board mem- her present.
Huntley residents should plan on spending extra time in the voting lxx)th for the April 13 consolidated elections because they will decide who will repre¬ sent them on bioards in five tax¬ ing bodies and cast ballots for two proposed tax increases for the Huntley Fire District.
In addition to the District 158 School Board race, elections are being held for the Village Board, the Huntley Area PubUc Library Board, the Huntley Fire District Board and the Huntley Park District Board.
Four people, including two incumbents, are running for three open seats on the School Board. Board President James Crabill has chosen to not seek re-election.
The new board will be faced with several important issues, including: how to provide ade¬ quate classroom space with a skyrocketing enrollment; how tiest to improve curriculum; and what to do about the controver¬ sy surrounding the Redskin motto.
Board Vice President Gary Slagle of Algonquin and board member Kim Skaja of Union are both seeking second terms. This is the first time newcomers Kevin D. Daleiden and Liz Bed- narczyk, both residents of Lake in the Hills, have run for public office.
In       November,       voters
"I'm very concerned with how the School District handles the growth and concerned that it uses the developer fees correctly."
Kevin D. Daleiden
School Board candidate
approved a pair of $9 million bonds for the construction of two elementary schools, one on Reed Road in Lake in the Hills and a second at the Harmony Road campus in Huntley. Even as the district prepares to break ground on the new schools, the new lx)ard will have to decide when to go to referendum again.
Slagle said he wouldn't be surprised if a referendum was on the ballot in November 2000.
'Twenty percent compound¬ ed growth is mind boggling," said Skaja, adding that the new schools have presented new issues inside the district. "For the first time, elementary stu¬ dents will be going to more than one school. We never had to deal with boundaries before."
Slagle, a retail finance man¬ ager, agrees.
"I think there is a challenge in the younger grades because peo¬ ple don't want their children bussed," he said.
Families living near the Reed Road school, for instance, may find their children t)eing trans¬ ported to another school with more space. Skaja said the board must also decide how to handle the added expense of having libraries at the new schools.
Bednarczyk, a real estate agent, said she would like the
district to add on to the south elementary school. Many fami¬ lies would prefer their, children attended the centrally located school, instead of being trans¬ ported further fi-om their home, she said.
Daleiden, the director of a Huntley-based fastener distribu¬ tor and former chairman of the Huntley Chamber of Com¬ merce, said the district's depen¬ dence on developer's fees is crit¬ ical to providing adequate fund¬ ing for new buildings.
"I'm very concerned with how the School EHstrict handles the growth and concerned that it uses the developer fees correct¬ ly," said Daleiden, the former director of the Huntley Econom¬ ic Development Corporation.
While funding for new schools is a top issue, Slagle said the district must put an increased emphasis on test scores, which have remained static.
"We are trying to set goals for the board and the administration that would help us improve test scores and improve the quality of education we deUver," said Slagle.
The district is hiring a gifted coordinator who will assist teachers in developing in-class
see Seats—^page 2
Photo by Pat Kolle
Luke Schingel, 4, and his brother Matt, 2, of Crystal Lake, play on the see-saw at Deicke Park earlier this week. Many children were able to get out to the park as a result of the spring weather
Library Board has two open seats, three candidates
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications The sad news is that the Huntley Area Public Library Board of Trustees is losing two members, but the good news is that two Huntley residents and a Lake in the Hills resident are running to take their places.
Outgoing board members Margaret Huber Hackworthy and Wade Runge are not seeking another six-year term.
The three candidates are Tri¬ cia Clancy-Hopp and Kathryn Francis, of Huntley, and Kim- berlee Ann Eshbaugh, of Lake
in the Hills. The Library District serves Huntley and a portion of Lake in the Hills.
Each of the candidates said they would hke to see a variety of intergenerational programs offered at the $2.4 million library going up on Ruth Road.
Clancy-Hopp, an owner of a Huntley real estate company and charter member of the Huntley Chamber of 'Com¬ merce, said the library should have a combination of material^ to meet the needs of seniors at Del Webb and school children, see Candidates—page 2