Bethalto Municipal Office and School Board Candidates Forum
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BETHALTO - Village of Bethalto officials and Bethalto Community Unit School District #8 Board of Education candidates shared their platforms at a recent forum.
On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, community members gathered at the Bethalto Senior Center for the forum, hosted by the Bethalto Chamber of Commerce. The village candidates, who are running uncontested, introduced themselves. The Board of Education candidates introduced themselves and answered five questions.
There are nine Board of Education candidates and four available seats. Dana Aronin, Tom Beiermann, Natalie Langenfeld-McCoy and Sharon Rothe are defending their seats. Michael Kirby, Desiree Potter, Samantha Pritchett, Amanda Winn and Dallas Zimmerman are the challengers.
Tom Beiermann was unable to attend the forum. Beiermann has served on the Board of Education for 35 years. Jane Balsters Ahasay, who organized the forum with the Bethalto Chamber of Commerce, shared a statement from him.
“I would very much appreciate your support in continuing to serve,” he said in his statement.
Dana Aronin is a pediatric nurse practitioner who joined the Board of Education last year when two vacancies opened up. She has three children, including one child with special needs and one who is a teacher. She said she is “willing to learn” and “a very compassionate person.”
“The reason I would want to be and continue to be part of the school board is I’ve always supported education for all of my children,” she said. “Consider me if you want somebody who has experience with kids, if you want somebody who has experience with some of the challenges kids face since COVID and prior to that as well.”
Michael Kirby is nearing retirement but has spent his career as a police officer and investigator. He is a “lifelong resident” of Bethalto and raised four kids in the school district, with grandchildren who are about to enroll in the district. He said his skills as an investigator will help him in this role.
“I’m looking forward to having a new passion, something that is worthy to spend my time on,” he said. “In [being an investigator] for so many years, I feel like it sort of branches over into at least four years helping the wonderful Bethalto school district become a much better school district, if that’s at all possible.”
Natalie Langenfeld-McCoy joined the school board last year when two vacancies opened up. She previously served as a high school teacher and currently works as a manager data scientist at Nestle Purina. She has four kids, two at Civic Memorial and two who will enroll in kindergarten at Bethalto soon.
“My role is to take data and information and make informed decisions, and that’s what I’d like to do for the school board,” she said. “I decided to join the school board because I want to continue to make it a good district to raise those children.”
Desiree Potter owns a plumbing business and moved to Bethalto so her children could enroll in the school district. She has served as a parent volunteer in her kids’ classrooms.
“I love the Bethalto schools,” she said. “It’s done some amazing things for my children…I want to see the school do well, and I think we’ve done a great job. I’m not saying anything is terrible, but to see the breakdown in things that are going on on Facebook or the news, it just breaks my heart that we’re always under attack. I cannot sit back and not try to help.”
Samantha Pritchett said her family also moved to Bethalto for the school district. She is the CFO at Midwest Members Credit Union. Her daughter’s positive experience at Civic Memorial encouraged her to seek the Board of Education seat.
“When the vacancy came open in the summer, I thought it would be a good way for someone who’s maybe not a resident and lifelong person to be able to get in and help make a difference in the community and support the teachers and support the students here,” she said.
Sharon Rothe is “the local seamstress” and a businesswoman. She has served on the school board for 40 years. She moved to Bethalto at age 17 and her children and grandchildren attended Bethalto schools.
“I ran for the board in 1985 and soon found out that I loved it. I love the kids. I love our employees, each and every one of them,” she said. “This school district and this town has my heart.”
Amanda Winn is a Civic Memorial graduate and an office manager of a union commercial construction company. She has four children, two of which are still students at Civic Memorial.
“I love our children,” she said. “I love our educators. I love our community, and that’s why I’m running for the school board, because I feel like people need to have an advocate to speak up, ask questions and serve our community in a positive way.”
Dallas Zimmerman graduated from Bethalto schools and joined the military. He returned to Bethalto to raise his children and grandchildren. He works in leadership and process improvement. He noted that there have been “difficulties,” which encouraged him to become more involved in the district.
“One of the reasons why I am interested in running for the school board is just there's been a lot of experiences, especially in the last year, in my interactions, and I believe that there could be a stronger leadership within the community or on the school board,” he said.”
Candidates were asked a total of five questions. All candidates agreed they wanted more transparency and better teacher retention. Candidates also spoke about how to effectively handle funds and make the budget more accessible to the community.
For a full recording of the Bethalto candidates forum, click here.
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