The petition filing period opened at 9 a.m. for the offices of president and members of the Chicago Board of Education.
Those who want to be on the ballot have to file their nominating papers between Monday and next Tuesday.
There were familiar and new faces handing in thousands of petitions to serve on Chicago's School Board.
All current sitting school board members plan to run for election or reelection except the appointed president, Sean Harden.
With several candidates in the running to replace him, the race for school board president is expected to be competitive and expensive.
First in line was Victor Henderson, a familiar face in legal circles, but a new one in education. The longtime Chicago attorney is running for school board president.
"We are excited about the opportunity coming from the outside in and seeing some things done differently," Henderson said.
Henderson says, if elected, his priority is digging into the Chicago Public Schools budget.
The district is facing an almost $1 billion deficit.
School Board presidential candidate Jennifer Custer fears the timing may influence the ability to make tough decisions like possible teacher cuts.
"I think it's going to be handled a little bit differently, and I think we're going to have to approach it differently. And I think it will absolutely have an effect," Custer said.
CPS student enrollment has dropped by 45,000 students during the past seven years.
CPS also has aging buildings and a growing population of students with special needs.
Chicago's first fully elected school board will be faced with making some tough decisions that may possibly include closing schools.
"We have to put their needs and their priorities first before we are trying to avoid political flock or discomfort of making choices that we need to," School Board presidential candidate Sendhil Revuluri said.
Revuluri served on the school board as an appointed member under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
According to campaign contribution filings, Revuluri has raised more money than all of his competitors combined. While all candidates say the School Board must keep politics out of decisions, unions and super political action committees are likely to infuse a lot of cash into the races.
Current elected member Jessica Biggs is running for president, as well.
"I was really lucky to run a grassroots campaign in 2024, would love to lean into some of that same infrastructure this cycle. And it's going to take some campaign cash in order to get our message to all of Chicago," Biggs said.
The Chicago Electoral Board will meet in early June to hear and rule on any objections.
The new fully elected school board will take their seats in January.