Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Harlan will likely be the youngest person to ever run for a school board seat in District 205.
That’s according to Knox County Clerk Scott Erickson who says Harlan hasn’t officially filed yet, but when filing opens December 12, there shouldn’t be any issues with his candidacy even though he is still a student in the district he would help preside over.
“There’s not any specialty requirements like in some offices,” Erickson says. “Like in the State’s Attorney’s office, you have to be a licensed attorney and some different things, but for the school board, that’s basically it — your age requirement, that you’re not a child sex offender and that you’re a resident in that district.”
The Galesburg High School student will turn 18 in February — nearly two months before he would need to be 18 on election day in April.
In fact, Harlan feels his age is an advantage.
“We need people on the school board who have been affected by the decisions directly,” Harlan says. “We need people who are a liaison in between the students and the school board. We need someone who is a voice for the students and the teachers alike.”
Harlan is the first person to announce a run for school board in the 2017 municipal elections.
At least one seat is expected to be open with the retirement of board president Bob Lindstrom.
