Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Morrisonville CUSD #1 Potential Board Members:
Morrisonville School District currently has a policy in place that only allows three board members from one township to sit on the board of education. With five open positions on the Morrisonville Board of Education in the April 2023 election (4 four year positions and 1 two year position), an issue may arise.
Currently, one board member was elected in 2021 and lives in Ricks Township. This means that only two more board members can be seated if they live in Ricks Township.
Through an investigation with the Illinois State Board of Elections, it was determined that the two year position is seated before the four year positions. This means that if someone from Ricks Township runs for the two year position, they will get seated, and only leave one seat left for anyone from Ricks Township.
Given who we know at this time about who has picked up petitions to run in the upcoming election, the two year position will be seated first, leaving only one more person from Ricks Township to be seated on the Morrisonville Board of Education. This means that 8 people may run for the Board of Education with the district only being able to seat 5 members.
The district has put a referendum on this April's ballot for school board elections to be open to everyone without consideration of townships. If this measure passes, this policy would begin with the 2025 election. Even if this measure passes in April, the district will not be able to appoint any additional Rick Township candidates until after the 2025 election..
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Patrick Murphy