A challenger led the field by a wide margin and knocked off a longtime incumbent to become the only woman on the Lyons Township High School District 204 school board in the April 17 election.
Heather Alderman, of Western Springs, led the four-candidate field with 4,990 votes, according to unofficial election returns from the Cook County Clerk. Two other veteran incumbents, Arthur “Bill” Sprague Jr. and Dr. John Polacek, were also reelected to the school board. The odd man out was Todd Shapiro, who has served on the LT board since 1995. Shapiro finished fourth with 3,611 votes, 85 votes behind Polacek in a low-key race that featured four candidates for three four-year terms.
Alderman, a lawyer who works part time and has a son who is a freshman at LT, ran the most aggressive campaign.
“I think I won because I did a lot of campaigning,” said Alderman. “I was in Hogkins and Countryside and Brookfield and LaGrange and LaGrange Park, and I walked a lot of precincts. I knocked on a lot of doors.”
Alderman estimated that her campaign committee, Citizens for Heather Alderman, spent approximately $6,000 in the campaign, much more than the other candidates spent. Alderman said she sent out one mass mailing in the campaign.
Alderman, who served two terms on the Western Springs Elementary School District 101 board from 1995 to 2003 said she had to make herself known to the entire district.
“I’m not really sure to what extent the other three gentlemen really did any campaigning,” said Alderman. “They didn’t really have to, because they were known and they’ve been on the board a long time.”
Polacek has served on the board since 1989. Sprague and Shapiro were first elected to the board in 1995.
There were no big issues dividing the candidates, but Alderman said that she thought some change on the board was beneficial.
“I think staggered change is a good thing on a school board,” said Alderman.
Shapiro, of LaGrange Park, said that he was disappointed that he lost but proud of his service on the board.
“I like to think I made a contribution to the school and the kids,” said Shapiro, who has been the chairman of the board’s Curriculum Committee for the past six years.
Shapiro served as board president for two years and he pointed to helping bring fiscal responsibility to the district and increasing the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses as major accomplishments.
Sprague, a retired LT teacher from LaGrange, said that Shapiro will be missed.
“I’m sorry he lost because he added so much to the board and I can’t quite figure out why he lost, but he did,” said Sprague, who finished second with 3866 votes. “He was a tremendous help in terms of financial matters: insurance, negotiations, and all of that sort of thing. I don’t know that we have anybody that’s going to be as good as he.”
The incumbents did not run together, and Shapiro estimated that he might have spent $1,500 on his campaign. He said he wrote his own flier on his computer and printed copies at Kinko’s. He said that he thought he campaigned more than Sprague or Polacek.
There was an e-mail circulating in the campaign that encouraged voters to vote for Alderman and Alderman only.
Shapiro said he did not encourage his supporters to vote only for him and said that he had the greatest respect for the board members he served with.
“I went down, but I went down as a colleague,” said Shapiro.
District 204 includes Brookfield south of Southview Avenue. All Brookfield residents north of Southview Avenue are part of Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208.
