The filing period for Evanston/Skokie District 65 and Evanston Township High School District 202 school board candidates to enter the 2025 race is officially here, having kicked off at 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 11. Anyone interested in running has until 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18 to join the ballot with the requisite number of signatures
With the filing week also come some answers as to whom voters will choose from on Election Day in April. Both ETHS and District 65 have four open seats on their respective boards during this cycle. At District 65, those whose terms are ending are:
- Joey Hailpern
- Soo La Kim
- Biz Lindsay-Ryan
- Donna Wang Su
And at ETHS:
- Mirah Anti
- Gretchen Livingston
- Pat Maunsell
- Pat Savage-Williams
Most notably, both Soo La Kim and Biz Lindsay-Ryan confirmed to the RoundTable on Thursday that they will not run again. Lindsay-Ryan was appointed in 2019 and Kim in 2020, and both won full terms in the 2021 election. They had previously declined to comment on campaign plans, saying that the city would find out who was running after the filing period.
But on Thursday, both said they had previously planned to leave after one term because their kids would be out of District 65 by now.
“I decided I would not seek reelection back in 2021 shortly after I won my seat. I calculated that by 2025, my older kid would be a junior getting ready to apply to college and my younger one would be approaching his last year in D65,” Kim said in an email. “I had already served a year in the role and five years of time-intensive volunteer labor seemed like enough for me and my family.”
Meanwhile, Lindsay-Ryan said, “It has always been my plan to honor my commitment and complete my term and then make room for someone who has children still in the district.”
Su had already announced over the summer that she will not run, ensuring three of the four incumbents will not return for another term on the board. Hailpern, on the other hand, said earlier this fall that he was still deciding about a potential run. He did not respond to a follow-up email this week.
In other news, the RoundTable confirmed with the county clerk’s office this week that the following people have already filed to run for District 65 school board:
- Christian Sorensen, a district office staffer for State Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl (D-57th) and a board member of the Democratic Party of Evanston
- Brandon Utter, a parent at the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies
- Heather Vezner, a Ninth Ward resident
- Andrew Wymer, a professor of preaching and worship at the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and a member of the NAACP Evanston/North Shore executive board.
ETHS candidates
Over at Evanston’s other school district, longtime ETHS board president Pat Savage-Williams and Mirah Anti, another incumbent, have filed to run again. Savage-Williams has been on the board since 2013, and has served as president since 2015.
Gretchen Livingston, the longest-tenured ETHS board member, who’s served since 2009, had not filed as of Thursday night, and neither had Pat Maunsell, who was first elected in 2017 and reelected in 2021.
2025 school board elections: Two District 65 incumbents won’t run is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.