Dist. 204 Voters to Elect 4
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Voters in Pinckneyville Community Unit District 204 will elect four on Tuesday.
Current members of the board are Cheryl Hagene, Tom Keith, Bernadine Suchomski, Mike Milliken, Marion Logan and Byford Reidelberger.
Milliken and Hagene are not seeking re-election.
Jeffrey Suchomski of 6879 Flamingo Road is the only candidate seeking a two-year unexpired seat on the board, and he will automatically be elected.
Voters will select three board members from among seven candidate for three full four-year terms on the board.
The seven candidates are Rebecca Przygoda of 6061 Puffin Drive; Kristy King of 5902 Rt. 154; Marion Logan of 3732 Albers Road; Sean Carter of 6056 Rt. 154; Roxanne Place of 6528 Rt. 154; Cynthia Opp of 6708 Mockingbird Road and Rudy Stowers of 4001 Dist. 204 Road.
Mr. Logan has an Associate of Science Degree from Rend Lake College and Bachelor of Science Degree, from SIU-Carbondale.
He is manager of Southern FS in Pinckneyville.
His family are members of Nine Mile Baptist Church
He is currently a board member of the community water district.
Logan, 46, told the newspaper: "I attended District 204. I currently have two sons in college who attended 204 as well as a son who is in the fourth grade. District 204 is an excellent school and I would like to see it continue to provide quality education. I was appointed to the school board in November 2007 to fill a vacancy. While serving I learned a great deal. I feel that continuing to serve is one way I can give back to my community and influence the lives of the children in our community. I know that the decisions made by the board affect the lives of students, their parents, and the livelihoods of the staff employed by the district. I would be mindful of all of these in the decisions that I would be involved in."
He adds, "My only agenda is to keep District 204 financially viable and continue to maintain the high educational standards that it has always provided in the past while being fair to the taxpayers of the district."
Cynthia Opp, 40, has been a teacher and assistant principal at the Tamaroa Grade School for 14 years. She has a bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois University and a Masters in Educational Administration from SIU. Her family attends Friendship Church of Christ in Tamaroa.
She has been a member of the District 204 board for eight years and says, "I had a desire to serve my community and share my educational experience and background. I was encouraged by others to service."
"I don't feel anyone should come onto a board with a personal agenda. To serve the school and community best, you should be open-mined to hear all sides. Often people don't understand exactly what being a board member entails until he or she has served for a while. I simply want District 204 to prepare students academically and socially to move on to high school and beyond and to become responsible, productive citizens."
"I feel the biggest challenge is going to be providing the quality of services we want for our students with current economic trends. Tough decisions may have to made in the near future with our schools across the state unless there are solutions found for school funding."
No other candidates responded to the newspaper's query.