2 current members and 2 newcomers win seats on Avoca 37 Board of Education

The four candidates backed by the Avoca School District 37 Caucus triumphed in a six-candidate field for the Avoca District 37 Board of Education on Election Day, April 1, with two incumbents and two newcomers winning seats on the board.

With all seven precincts in the district reporting, according to unofficial totals from the county, Dan Seals, the current School Board president, won a second term with the highest vote total at 24.31%, or 640 votes. Lauren Rivera-Haire was in second place with 16.71%, or 440 votes.

Appointed incumbent Yoav Sharon, who was seeking a full term, received 16.37%, or 431 votes, while Carolyn Cole is in fourth with 16.22%, or 427 votes.

Incumbent Gil Gibori, who was not endorsed by the Avoca Caucus and was seeking a third four-year term, came in fifth place with 13.86%, or 365 votes, while Jared Branahl finished with 12.53%, or 330 votes.

Seals said he was looking forward to working with the other newly elected board members and said there’s a lot he wants to continue working on over the next four years.

“I’m looking forward to working on academic achievement, social-emotional learning, and of course fiscal responsibility,” he said. “I want to make sure that we do everything we need to within our means.”

Seals also praised the other candidates and their campaigns.

“We had fantastic candidates who were running,” he said. “There wasn’t a weak candidate in the group, and all the campaigns were very positive,” later adding that there wasn’t any “bad politics, and I think that reflects well on the Avoca community.”

Cole said she was “beyond excited” to be elected to the board, and is looking forward to learning about the challenges faced by the district and finding “creative solutions that are going to be, hopefully, the best for both the schools, the teachers, the students and the larger community as well.”

Rivera-Haire said her goals include focusing on the work that the district’s March 2024 referendum, which was rejected by voters, had set out to address.

“I think there’s still a lot of work to be done from the facilities perspective,” she said. “I think there’s still more to be done within the schools and making sure that our curriculum and schools are as successful as they can be (and) continuing to promote things like diversity within our strategic plan.”

In an email, Gibori said he was “disappointed” in the results, “but I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done over the past 8 years and grateful for the conversations that we’ve had along the way. I respect the voters’ decision and congratulate the winners.”

Although he will no longer be on the School Board, Gibori said he intends to remain active in D37.

“I care deeply about Avoca and plan to stay involved however I can,” he said. “Our district is in real need of an effective referendum for its survival. I plan to support the board in its efforts to accomplish just that.”

Additionally, the new board will need to appoint a new member, as no candidates filed for the unexpired two-year seat that Sharon vacated to run for a full term.

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