With late votes, 209 United may have swept D209 board
In the hard-fought race for the fourth and final seat on the District 209 Proviso Township high school board, Nicole “Molly Bee” Molinaro on April 7 passed Candice Ross as mail-in votes continued to be counted. Molinaro leads Ross by just 66 votes in what remain unofficial results.
In a brief comment to the Forest Park Review on Tuesday, April 8, Molinaro said she was aware of the updated results. “Yup. Amazing and humbling feeling. I’ll wait until April 15 for the final [results] and April 22 when [official] certification happens. But it is an excellent position.”
The Cook County Clerk’s office said Tuesday, mail-in ballots are still being counted. The office still has until April 15 to validate ballots.
Also elected to the school board were three other members of the 209 United slate. Rolandra Morris, William Fisher and Ebony “Nicki” Smith earned board seats. Morris was the top vote getter with 7,408 votes. Smith placed second with 6,969 votes. Fisher was third with 6,728 votes.
While Ross closed out Election Day with a 40-vote margin over Molinaro, as of April 7, Molinaro had 6,530 votes to 6,464 votes for Ross.
Incumbent Arbdella “Della” Patterson, who was seeking a third term, received 10.70% of votes, putting her behind slate-mate Jerry Jenkins, who came in with 12.26% of votes.
Patterson was not able to be reached for comment.
On election night, Molinaro said, “Most importantly the incumbent that caused a lot of the chaos over the past several years, supporting the teacher strike, misappropriating funds … with the former superintendent, that person cannot win and so that is a big win,” Molinaro said.
Zihualpilli Hernandez, who also ran on the 209 Student First slate, received 9.35% of votes.
Morris said she was in “awe” about her seat on the board, adding she was grateful for the opportunity to advocate for students in Proviso like she advocates for her own children. Securing a seat alongside her slate-mates, she added, shows that the voice of parents in the community matters.
“I want to say thank you to the community, to the Proviso residents for trusting our slate with this opportunity,” Morris said.
Smith echoed the excitement.
“I am excited that people came out to vote and that they voted for change,” she told the Forest Park Review. “I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Put students first and improve these schools.”
For Fisher, the seat on the board brings a “promise of change,” and an excitement for the possibilities that it holds for the district.
“I look forward to doing good for the current students and future students,” he said.
He said he was waiting to see what the official vote results say, but he remained hopeful the entire slate would win seats on the board and be able to improve the district together.
“The fact that the results show that three of us are there in some sense [and] the prospect of all of us being on the board. … I am excited, hopeful, grateful for the voters that they believe in us,” Fisher said.
