Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring to the District, and why would those contributions be valuable in the role of School Board member?

I am passionate about serving our wonderful community and I’m committed to preparing our students to make our world a better place.  I want to ensure each student has everything needed to thrive and reach their awesome potential.  I have a heart for service and have been actively involved in our schools as a parent leader for the past 6 years.  I’ve held a variety of roles, including serving as co-president of the Horace Mann School PTO and its Diversity Committee (“DivCo”), created to advance equity initiatives.  At the school district level, I’ve served on the PTO Council and as D97 PTO Diversity Council Co-President.  I played a pivotal role in the development of District 97’s Policy on Ensuring Racial and Educational Equity and I’ve had the opportunity to positively impact the culture and quality of our schools.  Becoming a D97 School Board Member is strategically aligned with my commitment to create positive change in our schools.  The bottom line is that I love our Oak Park community and our public schools. I’m deeply invested in making them the best for all our families.

2. What are the three biggest challenges or opportunities you expect District 97 to face in the coming years, and how would you work with your colleagues to address these challenges or realize these opportunities?

We need to maintain a focus on our race and equity initiatives to address long-standing opportunity gaps for vulnerable students.  The pandemic has heightened attention to racial disparities, so we need to prioritize equitable supports and opportunities that reach all students.  We need to expand and diversify community engagement.  I want to ensure that all voices are heard by sincerely engaging our stakeholders.  By sharing background information on difficult decisions, we can reduce discord, misinformation, and distrust.  Because our students and families are in different situations, we need to truly understand each other to make better decisions.  We can keep our conversations centered on our common goal of providing the very best for all our children.  We must find ways to deliver a high-quality education with ample services while staying within our budget.  The community has spoken loudly and clearly on tax increases and referendums and I’m committed to being fiscally responsible.

3. How will you balance competing interests, such as your own deeply-held values and opinions, input from District staff and fellow board members, and diverse views from the community? How would you describe your leadership style and your decision-making process generally? 

I take pride in being a good listener, a strong communicator and a critical thinker, focused on positive outcomes.  I welcome and seek to understand diverse opinions and I’m willing to contribute my ideas and perspectives.  I’m passionate about learning from everyone, respecting everyone’s opinion and finding a common path forward.  Decisions made at the board table are intended to positively impact the entire district, so we all have the same goal with varying strategies for execution.  When we meet the meets of all students and diversity is valued, our entire school community wins.  As a servant leader, I take an empathic approach to problem-solving and look to build consensus among stakeholders. 

4. What values would you bring to the budgeting process? What changes do you favor in the process by which the District conducts its budgeting and fiscal planning?

As a board member, it would be my responsibility to maintain the financial well-being of D97.  I would bring the values of responsibility, accountability, transparency, frugality and sustainability to the stewardship of our public funds.  While overseeing a large and complex budget is no small undertaking, I am eager to apply my values, knowledge and experience to this task.  Academically, I have a degree in Business Administration, and professionally, I’m an account executive for a healthcare company managing large hospital accounts in Chicago.  As a D97 Board Member, I want to see a critical evaluation of outcomes and resource utilization to identify possible changes.  Reviewing expenses, reducing vendor utilization and looking for cost-sharing opportunities will be an ongoing charge.  This pandemic has shown our society how to adapt by thinking outside the box.  We will have to find creative and sustainable ways to deliver high-quality education and services within our current budget. 

5. How will you balance the community's desire to decrease the property tax burden with the need to maintain the quality of our schools, create an equitable learning environment for all students, and address facilities issues?

Oak Park property taxes are expensive.  Like most of you, I don’t want my taxes to go any higher and I do not want to have a referendum.  Approximately 70% of D97 funds come from property taxes.  As I have reviewed the last few years of district budgets and financial statements, they have been operating with a balanced budget and offered a surplus the last two years.  As a board member, I am committed to looking for ways to reduce other expenses and not increase taxes.  

6. Special education is mandated by federal law. How will you set up structures to ensure ongoing concerns of families engaged with special education are addressed? What do you believe are the biggest issues facing families and children with special needs, and how will you work to see their needs are met?

Delivering appropriate services to special education students and ensuring accessibility and inclusion are essential.  I’ve learned from families that the delivery of special education services is inconsistent and represents an opportunity to enhance equity.  As a board member, I will pursue all avenues to remedy this issue by examining the current processes to improve needed services and supports.  The District has been expanding the co-teaching model of embedding a special education teacher in general education classrooms, which is showing a lot of promise.  We need to provide professional development to general education teachers to expand their repertoire of differentiated learning strategies.  Our district will benefit from expanding trauma-informed approaches to meet the needs of neurodiverse students, whose disabilities can be misunderstood.  This is another area that has been negatively impacted by the pandemic.  We need to minimize interruptions in the accommodations and supports for our students with special education needs.  The Board of Education should be receiving consistent updates from the Superintendent with specific metrics on whether service goals are being met for each school.  This will improve transparency and possibility and pace for equitable change.

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

Equity is a commitment to meet the needs of all students and to remove barriers that inhibit their success.  I have a personal commitment to centering equity in schools, especially for underserved students.  As a member of the D97 Diversity Council, we pushed the administration and board to emphasize community engagement in the development and adoption of the comprehensive equity policy.  As a board member, I want to see equity outcomes data to be able to assess how the implementation of the policy is affecting students.  There are many organizations around our village doing equity work and I am eager to explore more collaborations with D97.   I have attended numerous events in our community and continue to broaden my scope of understanding of the many equity issues we still need to tackle.  In recent years, we are seeing more local leaders of color—and specifically women of color--stepping up and helping to drive equitable change in our community.  This has inspired and supported my own leadership, which enables me to bring my lived experience and valuable insights to inform and shape local policies and practices. 

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

As a PTO Diversity Council leader, I have prioritized reaching out to families whose voices are not being heard within the school community.  As a parent leader, being open to hearing diverse voices is essential, but I have learned that we can’t just wait for families and parents to come to us.  There are many barriers to participation such as childcare, transportation, accessibility, language, and financial hardships.  Many community meetings and town halls are hosted in our village, but whose voices are not being heard and what do we need to do to hear them.  We need to seek them out and begin a dialogue with trust, transparency, and actionable steps toward meeting the needs of all our families. 

9. How should the District assess its policies and progress with respect to the opportunity gap? As a Board Member, how will you determine whether the District is succeeding?

The D97 opportunity gap is older than some of our teachers and parents.  Our process for change and adaptation needs to be more flexible and move faster.  If the current plan is not resulting in student progress, we need to make immediate changes with resources and services as soon as possible. The Multi-tier System of Support (MTSS) delivery model provides targeted support to struggling students and is an important tool used to meet student’s needs build the academic confidence.  A sense of urgency is critical to making effective gains for kids who have fallen behind grade level.  As a board member, I will support streamlining processes in the District so needs can be identified earlier and changes can be implemented faster.  

10. District 97 has taken some steps to move away from policing and surveillance in schools toward restorative justice, mental health supports, and other services in schools. Do you feel these moves have been successful? Why or why not? What work do you believe remains to be done in this area?

Many in the community, myself included, wanted to see the Oak Park Police Department Student Resource Officers eliminated from D97 schools and the termination of the Board of Education’s intergovernmental agreement.  The negative effects on culture and climate are well-documented and reflected in local student surveys.  I would encourage the board to consider new and updated alternatives with defined responsibilities and training.  I fully support training staff in restorative justice practices and have reviewed the data from other communities supporting its effectiveness.  Expanding restorative and preventative approaches may, over time, reduce or replace the need for more punitive approaches.  We now have Climate and Culture coaches at our middle schools to help drive this initiative.  A comprehensive mental health support system is also crucial for helping our students.  I would like to see the Mindful Middle Schoolers program expand, that allows space for students to express their voices.  The Holmes School’s Hawks Nest Program--where students come together across age level to build community and connection and to engage in social-emotional sharing and learning---also shows a lot of promise. 

12. District 97 Board members share responsibility for oversight of the Collaboration for Early Childhood. Do you support this example of intergovernmental cooperation? Are there other types of intergovernmental cooperation that you would support?

The Collaboration for Early Childhood (CEC) plays an essential role in the development of our younger children. Kindergarten readiness and CEC’s investment in young learners contributes to student academic success. This intergovernmental cooperation among agencies is an example of excellence in our village.  Several village agencies meet regularly to discuss ways to collaborate and conserve.  The IGOV agreements allow each organization to save money, reserve resources, and reduce duplication of services.  This is the kind of effort I fully support.

12. Educational and business leaders have begun to use a "cradle-to-career" framework when talking about education. Please discuss the role of District 97 within the “cradle-to-career” framework.

The “Cradle to Career” model has many merits as a holistic, systemic, collaborate and equitable approach to improving the future of youth.  It’s based on a collective impact model that involves schools, community organizations and other institutions all working together to overcome obstacles and long-standing racial and economic disparities.  It’s well aligned with D97’s commitment to equity and community engagement and collaboration.  Evanston’s Cradle to Career initiative involves more than 40 organizations working together to realize a more fair and equitable community.  In Oak Park we have incredible community organizations around the village that make impactful and measurable differences in the lives of many D97 students.  Strategically working in coordinated collaboration, presents opportunity for a greater collective impact.

13. What lessons learned from the implementation of remote and hybrid learning during the pandemic do you believe will be applicable going forward, even after the pandemic abates?

Our schools serve families in many different situations and there are no easy or universal solutions.  It is challenging on multiple levels to attend school remotely.  I’ve seen a lot of resiliency from teachers, students and families in adapting to a different learning environment.  I’ve also seen PTO’s think creatively in how to support school communities.  It is critical for parents and guardians, teachers and education support professionals, administrators and community stakeholders to have a voice in how any learning system is implemented.  Providing detail about the options as possible allows families the comfort and trust in knowing that various scenarios were given full consideration and that safety and educational success were the primary drivers.   Whether remote or in person, families must choose what works best for them.  The way students connect with their friends and build community has changed, but they are inspiring in how they’ve coped with this pandemic.

14. 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?

Student voice is essential to driving a welcoming learning environment. Each D97 student deserves a positive and nurturing experience where they feel safe, respected, connected, and celebrated.  The bulk of this work is being done by teachers, principals, Culture and Climate teams and school PTOs/Diversity Councils.  The board can ensure appropriate professional development for administrators and teachers, as well as parent leaders. I  would like to see board members regularly visit schools to talk with students and staff in safe spaces, listen to how they want to be supported, then follow up with specific actionable steps.  We also need to make sure we are reaching out to, and hearing from, under-represented communities to see if D97’s policies and practices are current, inclusive, and effective in meeting the particular needs of different communities.  The District’s Racial and Educational Equity Policy authorizes and encourages the use of an equity review tool for decision-making.  If this tool is applied effectively and routinely, it requires community engagement with stakeholders most affected by decisions.  Broader implementation of the equity policy and tools is needed in order for them to work, as designed, to get meaningful input from multiple and marginalized community stakeholders.