Morris High School board election sees tight race

MORRIS – To anyone who thinks that one vote doesn’t matter, look at the results from Tuesday’s consolidated election in the race for Morris Community High School District 101 Board.

Five people were on the ballot competing for four open seats on the board, and the unofficial results have one vote separating the fourth and fifth spots. Mike Wright currently leads with 897 votes, followed by Matt Eber with 757, Christopher Danek with 741, Todd Mettille with 735 and Judy Miller with 734.

Grundy County Clerk Kay Olson said her office will continue counting vote-by-mail ballots for two weeks as long as they were postmarked on or before Election Day, April 6.

“We will have the official results on Wednesday, April 21,” Olson said. “In a tight race like that, every vote makes a difference.”

Wright, a 1990 graduate of Morris Community High School, served seven years on the Saratoga Community Consolidated District 60C Board before resigning in order to run for the high school board.

“I think my experience on the Saratoga board will help,” he said. “I had seven years to see how a school board works. Morris Community High School is a great school and I would like to help it continue to improve.

“There are issues at hand due to COVID that have never had to be dealt with before. We want to educate our kids and keep them safe and healthy.”

Meanwhile, it will be pins and needles for Mettille and Miller for the next two weeks.

“I kind of expected the race to be close,” Mettille said. “I didn’t think it would be one vote, but I knew it would be close. I am ready to get in there and get the feel of how everything is done.

“I want to help improve the school. I grew up here and have a couple of kids in the school. I knew there were four seats open and that someone had to step up and volunteer their time.”

The race for Minooka Community High School District 111 Board also was contested, as six candidates were vying for four seats. The top four vote-getters were Matt Shepard with 339, James Grzetich with 312, Cherie Barnes with 277 and Michael Brozovich with 277. John Sartori, who garnered 266 votes, and Owen Quast, who got 164, were on the ballot as well.

Three spots were open in the Morris Elementary School District 54 race. Patrick Stevens, who garnered 582 votes, was the only person on the ballot, although write-in candidate Sean Wojtczak received 61 votes and will have a seat on the board.

In Saratoga Community Consolidated School District 60C, Anne McDonnell, Amy Ledvina, Bridget Burke and Ginger Jones were elected to the board.

In Nettle Creek Community Consolidated School District 24C, Brock Nelson, Douglas Ferro and Gerig Robinson were elected to the board.