This bio is part of Tiger Times Online’s coverage of the 2025 school board election. The election will take place on April 1. For more information, click here.

For a full Q&A with Scott Ahart, click here.

Scott Ahart is one of seven candidates running for three seats on District 7’s School Board from inside the largest Edwardsville Township in the 2025 Consolidated Madison County elections.

Ahart is a long time resident of the community and is running for school board because he believes “everybody should do their civic duties,” and he’s “always had a love for the community.”

“I want to give back to a community that helped shape me,” he said. “When you go into the board, there’s seven people. We’re here to serve the community”

If elected, Ahart hopes to enforce the policies that the board currently has and to ensure that “when a young person comes into the school, the only thing they have to worry about is school.” He also plans to provide a voice in the board that will review all policies before giving them approval.

“I want to bring open mindedness, willingness to work with others, firmness, to say no, I think we’re going in the wrong direction, because that’s the hardest step to take, where you lock your heels and say, we need to slow down, look at things, instead of just rubber stamping something,” he said.

Ahart’s view on changing the school start times and class schedules — which was the most prevalent issue among polled EHS students — is that he’s still undecided but has concerns about shortening the class periods because “then you have less time for engagement with the students.” However, he still wants to hear what the community thinks about it.

“The jury’s still out for me,” he said. “What would concern me is when you move to a seven-hour period, you’re contracting the class time. In the current configuration, I think that’s the best. … I’m open to hearing more on how we want to implement this, and what are some of the pros and cons that the teachers feel. I like to hear their concerns.”

Overall, Ahart says the biggest thing is to avoid rubber stamping, and instead, for “everything that comes across the desk, I’m not just saying yes. I want to scrutinize things. I want to ask the questions, because by asking questions, we get the right answers.”