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Elections set to shake up Galesburg school board

Voters in Galesburg, Illinois, will shake up the District 205 Board of Education when they head to the polls on Tuesday.

Voters in Galesburg, Illinois, will shake up the District 205 Board of Education when they head to the polls on Tuesday.

Four of the five current school board members up for re-election aren't running. After Tuesday's vote, a majority -- four of the board's seven members -- will be brand new.

Many voters hope this will help heal the relationship between the teachers' union and the administration after a two-week teachers strike in September.

"Fresh blood and maybe not such antagonistic blood. I think that when you have that big of a clash as happened, that some people just have to go out, and we have to start new," said voter Rossann Baker-Priestley.

Not everyone, though, is certain that new is better.

"We'll see. I never know about that, if freshness does anything, or if they get a little confused about what the issues really are," said Gary Goddard. "It's not so black and white."

Phillip Slaton, Tianna Cervantez and H. Wayne Statham are running for two of the board seats, and Amy Elizabeth Pickrel is running against two write-in candidates, Jean Ann Glasnovich and Maurice Lyon, for two other seats.

Monday, voters agreed it will take someone open-minded to put the strike and return-to-work agreement in the past.

"We need to have people who are not all one side, pro-board or pro-teacher. It has to be somebody that can communicate," said Baker-Priestley.

The Galesburg election commission said early voting was up nearly 76 percent from four years ago. In 2011, 313 people voted early, and as of Monday afternoon, 552 people had voted.

For more information and to find your polling place, click here.

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