District 303 School Board Election Season Starts

Nominating petition forms are available for the April 9, 2013 Board of Education election in Community Unit School District 303, according to a release issued by the district on Wednesday.

Forms may be picked up in the office of the recording secretary at the Administration Center, 201 S. 7th St., St. Charles, on any business day between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. beginning Wednesday, Sept. 19.

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 is the first day that Community Unit School District 303 residents may circulate the nominating petitions.

A school board candidate’s petition must be filed in the Administration Center no earlier than 8 a.m. Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, and no later than 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24, 2012.

Four seats on the seven-member Board of Education are on the ballot for the April 9 election. Candidates elected will serve four-year terms expiring in April 2017.

To be eligible to serve as a school board member, a candidate must be, on the date of election, a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years old, a registered voter, and a resident of the state of Illinois and District 303 for at least one year immediately preceding the date of the election. Board of Education elections are nonpartisan; board candidates do not run under political party affiliation.

Illinois law requires that any candidate seeking election to a board of education must file:

• Nominating petitions signed by at least 50 voters residing within the district. Petitions must be securely bound together with pages numbered consecutively, and each page must carry the notarized signature of the petition circulator.
• Statement of candidacy.
• Statement of economic interest must be filed with the Kane County Clerk. A receipt of filing must be presented to the board recording secretary before 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24, 2012.
• Loyalty oath – which is optional.

Other important dates for candidates are:

• Dec. 19, 2012 – Lottery to determine the ballot position for candidates who filed nominating papers simultaneously on the first day of filing will be conducted at 8:30 a.m. in Community Unit School District 303’s Central Office, 201 S. 7th St., St. Charles. The lottery is open to the public.
• Jan. 2, 2013 – Last day for filing objections to a candidate’s nominating papers in the office of the recording secretary.
• Jan. 31, 2013 – Last day for a candidate to withdraw from nomination.

For more information about the nature and duties of serving on a school board, visit the Illinois Association of School Board’s website at: http://www.iasb.com/elections/.

For more information call Chris Rachford, recording secretary, 1-331-228-4922.

SOURCE: Community Unit School District 303