Activist Toolkit

1) What motivates you to seek this office? What makes you qualified to serve? What metrics of success do you plan on holding yourself accountable to? 

I have three children currently at Beye and one starting in the fall. I am an attorney by trade and have dedicated my career to public service, specializing in public benefit programs. Currently, I lead the work of the Illinois Commission to End Hunger, working to ensure equitable delivery and access to federal nutrition programs like SNAP, WIC, and school meals. This work requires collaboration with internal and external partners to build coalitions capable of systems change. I have spent my career tackling complex policy issues and successfully implementing solutions.

We know that schools are more than centers of learning—they are the center of our community. I'm proud of our schools and at the same time I'm invested in making them the best they can be for all students and families. 

My goals for the next two years (2-year term) include helping to build on the incredible foundational work the Board has done implementing the District's Equity policy, listening to the community to understand new goals and priorities, and exploring ways to deepen collaborations underway and nurture new ones. 

2) How do you make decisions? 

I like to seek out and listen to diverse perspectives. I’m a critical thinker accustomed to weighing all the facts and being deliberate about developing a common path forward.

3) How will you work to ensure that D97 provides an excellent educational experience for all its students? What metrics of success do you plan on holding yourself accountable to?

In order to provide an excellent educational experience for all we need to create a positive school culture that emphasizes respect and inclusivity, encourage student and parent involvement as valuable partners, and monitor and evaluate student progress to help identify areas of concern or progress.

4) How would you approach the budgeting process? 

I have experience managing public budgets through my position on the Board of Trustees for the Oak Park Public Library. While D97’s budget is significantly bigger, I am ready to bring this knowledge and experience to the Board. Along with the current budget, the Board should also be asking questions about budget planning, especially in light of the decline in enrollment we’re seeing across the district and making sound financial decisions for our future. Spending should align with the values set by the Board including prioritizing equity and the need to address the educational gap.

5) What would you say to voters who are worried about the tax burden? 

We know that many families move to this community specifically because of our strong schools. The tax burden is rightfully a perennial topic of discussion because affordability impacts the economic diversity of our community. We can provide the best education to our students and still stay within a budget by making sound financial decisions while creating an equitable and positive environment within which our children can learn and grow.  

6) Special education is mandated by federal law. How can District 97 better work to provide an excellent education for students in need of special education? 

Providing high quality education to all of our students is at the heart of the public education system. This means appropriately investing in special education services to make sure we are meeting those needs. I’ve loved seeing the expansion of the co-taught classroom model and seeing positive data that demonstrates its impact. I look forward to helping the district continue to make progress on our goals around equity in this area.

7) How do you define equity? Have recent discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking? 

Equity means that we must actively be working to meet the needs of all of our students and helping them all to achieve their potential. The current Board has been actively pursuing a District-wide Equity Policy and I look forward to continuing to build on that foundation. 

8) How do you plan to solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing our schools in a different way than you? What barriers do you believe may exist in this process? 

Communication here is key. Everyone is going to experience our district in different ways and its important that we are openly communicating about challenges and even failures in an open and honest way. 

9) How should the District assess its policies and progress with respect to the racial disparities in its learning outcomes? As a Board Member, how will you determine whether the District is succeeding? 

I’m proud of the work the current board is doing on reducing racial disparities in learning outcomes, but we know there is more work to be done. We need to be flexible enough to adapt our solutions if they’re not working and continue to be accountable to the community on progress.

10) Public schools have been faced with deciding whether or not to remove books from their shelves if a parent or group of parents deem the content to be inappropriate, too controversial or objectionable. How would you handle this issue and how should District 97 handle this question? 

This has come up quite a bit at the board table for the Oak Park Public library. I support the Library’s effort to become a “book sanctuary” where we commit to being an institution that collects and protects endangered books, makes those endangered books accessible to others, and educate the community on the history of book banning and burning. I’d love to see our school district exploring policies that protect these freedoms and encourage free thought.

11) After a two year hiatus, District 97 recently adopted a new intergovernmental agreement that creates a partnership with the Oak Park Police Department. What is your vision for a safe school environment? How do police officers in the schools relate to that vision? 

I am personally not in favor of having police officers in our school buildings. This is not the way that we signal to our children that their school buildings are safe and welcoming spaces. I’m in favor of the model that was put in place at the Oak Park Public Library where our safety team is trained in restorative justice practices and mental health. I would want to see the board consider alternative ways of supporting school safety.

12) What approach should District 97 take towards intergovernmental cooperation initiatives such as the Collaboration for Early Childhood Development? Are there other specific initiatives that you would like to implement or expand upon? 

I fully support the district’s partnership with the Collaboration for Early Childhood. We know that the supports and services that our children receive, particularly in their early years, is essential. In my role on the Library Board, I also serve on the Village’s intergovernmental body (IGOV) and would love to continue to see that table leveraged to increase collaboration between the governing bodies. 

13) What approach should District 97 take towards intermunicipal cooperation with neighboring communities? Are there specific initiatives that you would like to implement or expand upon? 

I see the Cross Community Climate Collaborative (known as C4) as a great example of this. C4 is a collaboration between 15 communities and several local nonprofits to address climate change. In fact, it was recently recognized by the US Conference of Mayors for this important work. We can and should be talking to neighboring communities about innovative practices that we can learn from.

14) What lessons learned from the pandemic’s early years do you believe will continue to be applicable to the ways that schools operate? 

We saw such incredible innovation from schools during the pandemic. We should be reflecting on the lessons learned during this period and the innovations we should carry forward. We also saw great disparities in how the pandemic was experienced across the district. This only underscores the need to continue to make progress on implementation of the district’s Equity Policy. We are seeing declines in student enrollment post-pandemic and are only beginning to understand and make plans for addressing this shift. I look forward to helping Dr. Shah and the Board put in place policies that will continue to support our schools during this period of change. 

15) The School Board’s primary responsibility is oversight of the Superintendent. District 97 hired a new superintendent, Dr. Ushma Shah, who started with the district in 2022. What criteria will you use to evaluate the success of Dr. Shah’s tenure? 

With any superintendent I would expect to see excellent communication and relationship building skills, critical thinking, sound and decisive judgment calls, leadership, and problem-solving ability. I have been very impressed with Dr. Shah’s tenure thus far and look forward to working with her closely.

16) Do you see a role for the Board in ensuring that the climate at District 97 schools is welcoming to students in minority populations, whether racial, religious identity, LGBTQ, etc.? What specific actions or policies would you propose? 

Every student deserves to feel welcome in their school. I would continue to build on the work the current board has done in implementing the District’s Equity Policy which includes an equity review tool for decision making so that all decisions can be seen through that lens.

17) A new report issued by the Centers of Disease and Control found that in 2021, very large numbers of students experienced poor mental health. Twenty-two percent of students seriously considered attempting suicide and ten percent attempted suicide. These feelings were found to be more common among LGBQ+ students, female students, and students across racial and ethnic groups. What can D97 do to address this trend? 

Unfortunately, I think this is a trend that we’re going to continue to see. We should be prioritizing early intervention services for students that need additional supports such as skill groups. We should have student and family supports and resources at the ready. I’ve been impressed with the partnership with the Mental Health Board on the Mindful Middle Schoolers program and would love to see that program reach more kids.