Band director drums up enough support to win spot on District 15, ousting incumbent

A retired school band director and newcomer has won a spot on Palatine Township District 15’s board, unofficial results in Tuesday’s election show.

Challenger Eric Bachmann and incumbents Frank J. Annerino, Lisa Beth Szczupaj, James J. Taylor and Anthony Wang were running for four, 4-year spots.

Szczupaj, school board president, led the pack with 6,930 votes, followed by Taylor with 6,859, Meanwhile, Bachmann had 6,347 votes, Annerino had 5,619 and Wang 5,238, with all precincts reporting.

Bachmann of Palatine said District 15 excelled at serving the varied academic abilities of his five children, and “the No. 1 reason I’m running is to give all kids that kind of opportunity.”

The retired Park Ridge school band director plays in the Palatine Concert Band, and has been active in Scouts.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity and hopefully being able to serve,” he said previously.

Szczupaj of Palatine was first elected in 2017. The new board “laid the foundation to create a highly functional board of education that we all benefit from,” she said.

“We knew we had some issues at that time we needed to rectify. (With Move 15 Forward,) I believe that we have done an incredible amount of projects … and really made a big difference,” said Szczupaj, a manager at a construction chemicals company.

Board Vice President Annerino of Palatine said the district accomplished much under the Moving 15 Forward improvement program and now “I’d like to focus on improving academic achievement.

“The kids really had a hard time with COVID-19 and they’re still recovering from that, and we need to adapt to new technologies that are being introduced, like artificial intelligence,” he said.

Occupational therapist Taylor was elected in 2021 and worked on the Move 15 Forward referendum.

“We came under budget and on time. A lot of what we want to get going is just getting started. I want to be part of making that happen,” said the unincorporated Arlington Heights resident.

He added that as a father of three, including an advanced learner and a special-needs child, “I felt I had a unique perspective to bring to the board.”

Wang, who was elected in 2017, is a head of a Montessori school and has two children attending the district.

“While the eight years on the board has felt productive and successful,” Wang said in a questionnaire, “I believe there is more work to be done. I want to see District 15 become a destination district in our state for families and staff alike.”