Caucus ticket prevails in Winnetka School Board election

Two incumbents and a newcomer, all caucus-backed, prevailed in the Winnetka School District 36 School Board election Tuesday evening.

The three victors all received more than 1,500 votes, according to unofficial results published April 1 by the Cook County Clerk’s Office. Incumbent Alyssa Rapp received the highest vote total at 28.71% (1,587 votes), followed by fellow incumbent Dan Waters with 28.11% (1,554) and Andrew Hotz in third with 28.09% (1,553).

Patrick Conway, who had previously ran in the 2023 D36 School Board election, finished in fourth place with 15.09%, or 834 votes.

Hotz said he’s “very, very grateful to the community of Winnetka for the votes and for the turnout,” and that he’s ready to get started on the board.

“I’m looking forward to becoming an even closer part of (the D36) community and helping the administration and the teachers and the schools guide these kids and prepare them for high school and prepare them for the world beyond,” he said.

He also congratulated Conway.

“(I have) a lot of respect for Patrick and his campaign,” Hotz said. “He ran a great campaign and I wish him nothing but the best.”

Conway said he’s “proud of the campaign that I ran.”

“I think I pointed out areas that I think our schools and School Board can improve, and I think that message was hopefully received by all the candidates,” he said. “And I think that we should all be happy that we have four people that are willing to step up and contribute their time and volunteer for our schools.”

Waters said there is a lot of work that needs to be done by the newly elected board.

“I always say we’ve put some things in flight and we need to land those things,” he said.

Those things include a curriculum overhaul and facilities work, all while being fiscally responsible, he said.

“I think as a board our second duty is to (have) fiscal responsibility to the community, to make sure that we do that in the most effective way possible,” Waters said.

He added that the School Board will also be tasked with filling a vacancy, referring to the resignation of first-term board member Katherine Myers-Crum, who resigned in mid-March following an investigation into “behavior” on a school bus, according to D36 officials.

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