Six candidates ran to fill four seats on the school board at District 200 Oak Park and River Forest High School.
As of late Tuesday night Kathleen Odell, Audrey Williams-Lee, Fred Arkin and Joshua Gertz have secured those seats.
According to unofficial results reported by the Cook County Clerk’s Office, Odell received 8,382 votes, putting her at 24.93%, followed by Williams-Lee who received 8,028 votes, putting her at a close 23.87%. Arkin came in third with 7,677 votes, receiving 22.83% of votes. The fourth seat was secured by Gertz, with 4,843 votes, receiving 14.40%.
The number of votes that write-in candidate David Schaafsma received is still undetermined, since those results were not reported by the county clerk on Tuesday night.
Hot-button topics throughout the election have included restorative justice, de-tracking the freshman curriculum and spending.
Gertz, in tandem with candidate Nathan Mellman, established a joint three-point campaign platform, distinguishing themselves from the four other candidates.
The pair focused on safety, challenging all students academically and safeguarding tax dollars.
On Tuesday night, Gertz said the unofficial election results not including write-in candidate David Schaafsma has resulted in uncertainty.
In the event that he does officially land the fourth-place spot, Gertz said he thinks it will be important to have a critical viewpoint and an independent voice on the board.
“I think there’s going to be more lively discussion and debate,” Gertz said. “We might evaluate different alternatives that we might not have otherwise evaluated, or we might find a more moderate compromise.”
Mellman added that the voters have spoken, and the villages will see what happens in the end.
When asked if his and Gertz’s messaging resonated with voters, Mellman said “well, not enough obviously.”
“It certainly resonated with some of them,” Mellman said. “I think it really was a factor of the Oak Park politicians and their races. It’s all about turnout, and with the trustee races, and the Oak Park village president race, that’s what generated the turnout and the results speak for themselves.”
The largest number of votes were won by Odell, who will serve as a new member on the board. An associate provost and a Professor of Economics at Dominican University, Odell has served as a member of the OPRF’s Community Finance Committee since 2023. She has two daughters who attend OPRF.
As the unofficial results rolled in on Tuesday night, Odell said she was feeling very optimistic.
“I think our campaign has been really about equity and about continuing to make the improvements that the school has been making over the last several years to serve as many kids as possible, as well as possible,” Odell said. “So I think the support is really exciting. I think there’s lots of great work to be done. The big questions were around the freshmen curriculum and the approach to safety. Our coalition is equity minded and really committed to improving on the work that’s been done.”
The other two seats were secured by incumbents Fred Arkin and Audrey Williams-Lee. This will be Arkin’s third term on the board.
Williams-Lee, the board vice president, was appointed in 2023 to fill a vacancy. She said the unofficial results have her feeling very excited and hopeful.
“We’re just thrilled to see that our message got through to voters. That’s really gratifying,” Williams-Lee said.
She said that as a board member, she’s looking forward to continuing the work that is already being done. This includes getting rid of disparities in the school’s discipline process and continuing to support the Honors for All freshman program.
“We’ve had so many people who have stepped up to volunteer to help out and it’s just really been humbling,” she said. “I’m very grateful.”