East Board Selects Cervantes, Leonard for Open Seats

The East Aurora School Board has chosen its two new members.

After a round of interviews this week, board members took a vote Tuesday night, selecting recent East High graduate and business owner Richard Leonard to fill a pair of open positions.

Nineteen-year-old Cervantes ran for the school board in April, and missed the cut. Cervantes is a student at Aurora University, majoring in criminal justice.

School Board President Annette Johnson said Cervantes “will bring a fresh set of eyes and ideas to the board, since we have been on a mission to add to student achievement.”

Leonard, Johnson said, brings years of business and construction management experience to the board—which it will need, she said, since the district plans more than $3.5 million on building rehab next spring.

Tuesday’s decision brings to a close an involved process that began with the April election, in which community activist won a seat on the board. Acting on information given to them, the school board challenged her election, citing records that showed she was not a registered voter at the time of the election, as required by state law.

Last month, a Kane County judge , and the board declared her seat open. Fultz applied for the vacant position, but was not chosen.

Then, on July 22, Robb Hill on the board, citing time constraints. Hill won his seat in the April election.

The board interviewed eight candidates for the open seats, including three who ran in the April election: Cervantes, Fultz and