Brittany Bailey Preston, wife of local state senator, runs unopposed in South Side’s District 9a in Chicago School Board race

District 9a neighborhoods: Auburn Gresham, West Englewood, Englewood, New City, Ashburn, Washington Heights Voters in this South Side district will have a new representative — with a familiar last name — on Chicago’s school board because the current member, who was appointed by the mayor, was removed from the ballot in July.Brittany Bailey Preston, the wife of state Sen. Willie Preston, whose district covers part of the same South Side territory, is effectively guaranteed the seat because she is the sole candidate in the race.Angel Velez, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointee to District 9a, filed to run for election but was removed from the ballot after a large percentage of his signatures were challenged and invalidated.The majority-Black district includes a mix of 47 neighborhood, charter and magnet schools serving mostly Black and Hispanic students. The area also has one of the lowest percentages of schools that earned either “exemplary” or “commendable” designations last year from the