We can’t claim excellence in education until we can claim it for all students. The successful implementation of the equity policy is my highest priority. But how do we get there? Through Communication, Collaboration, and Community.
Communication
It is impossible to achieve excellence without exceptional communication between key stakeholders. Administration, teachers, staff, caregivers, and students all have to be on the same page for policies to be implemented to best effect. To that end, I propose to:
Ensure that everyone is easily able to find and access critical information and data, such as implementation plans and associated metrics. This is especially critical where ongoing implementation of the District’s Equity Policy is concerned; we cannot effectively move the policy forward and address the intertwined opportunity gap without a transparent, honest, and ongoing accounting of related metrics.
Increase communication and transparency around decisions made by the Board and District. For example, a transparent budgeting process, clearly communicated to everyone, is the best way to ensure that fiscal priorities match educational priorities. This is a requirement if we are being careful stewards of the District budget and mindful of the tax burden on Oak Park residents.
Be present at formal and informal meetings and gatherings across the District to communicate and gather feedback. The Board represents the community and caregiver voice to the administration. In order to do this to the best of our abilities, we need to be available in the community and build trust that we are listening.
Proactively reach out and listen to underrepresented voices. It is important to make sure that we are actively seeking out and making opportunities for communication that reach those who are not able to take advantage of or don’t feel comfortable with current means of connecting.
Increase student voice and engagement in the District. As part of the D97 iLearn committee, students play an active and important role in discussion and decisions being made. I would work to see this model expanded.
Collaboration
The success of our students is not built solely on what happens in class during the school day. Collaboration brings teachers together to share best practices, the District together to build stronger programs, and the community together to support the child as well as the student. I strongly support:
Collaboration within schools and across the District on teacher professional development, curriculum development, dissemination of best practices, and data sharing. This practice is well underway in District 97, and I strongly support continuation and expansion. The recent Virtual Learning Walks where teachers shared current remote and hybrid learning experiences with peers and the administration serve as a valuable example of how productive this can be.
Programs and policies that bring administration, teachers, staff, caregivers, and students together to support learning both inside and outside of school. For example, as part of the iLearn committee and District technology plan, Parent Universities were brainstormed to provide resources related to school technology use in the home. Due to the pandemic, there was a shift to use the concept for the more immediate needs of help with remote learning. Improving this pilot could provide a valuable, asynchronous resource for caregivers.
Efforts such as Oak Park’s iGov that bring government agencies together. It is important to seek out ways that programs can support each other, building a stronger whole, and find fiscal efficiencies to prevent duplicate expenditures.
Seeking out collaborations with Oak Park, Chicagoland, state, and national organizations to the benefit of our school community. The recent Mindful Middle-Schoolers mental health seminars and resources program made available via a partnership with DePaul University is a meaningful example of what such partnerships can offer.
Continuing the cross-expert committee assembled to inform District decisions in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. While all teachers will have had the opportunity to be vaccinated by the start of the 2021-22 school year, and I am hopeful that community numbers will be significantly reduced as more adults are vaccinated, it remains prudent to have a range of plans following CDC and Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines ready to be deployed as needed.
Community
We chose, as did so many other families, to move to Oak Park because we wanted to live in a community that valued diversity. I believe that to truly value diversity, one must remain actively engaged in work that ensures diversity thrives. As a board member, I would work to:
Strengthen community involvement in the District by actively recruiting for committees from across Oak Park and increased communication. We are stronger when everyone has a voice and works together to achieve the same vision to create a positive learning environment for all District 97 students that is equitable, inclusive, and focused on the whole child.
Support the development of a community where everyone feels they are an integral and welcome member of the community. I believe it is critical that the Board be proactive in establishing and maintaining a welcoming climate. I mentioned earlier the importance of being out in the community; this extends to being present at events and meetings organized by minority populations. It is important to listen, to be available to answer questions, and to build the trust needed for questions to be asked. It is equally important to make sure that the policies set by the board are thoughtful and responsive to what we hear.
Facilitate access to resources needed by families to care for and nurture the whole child. Much like the Collaboration for Early Childhood connects families with young children to important resources in our community, I would work to make connections between available resources within and outside of the school district easily discoverable and accessible by families with school-aged children.
Foster a sense of community as we continue to weather the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a long year. It has been difficult to find ways to maintain connections amongst family and friends, much less our school community. District teachers have done an amazing job striving to keep our students connected and our PTOs have worked to keep caregivers connected, but they need the Board and administration support to strengthen these efforts. The Board will need to redouble efforts even more so as we move past the pandemic and work to reforge stronger connections than ever before.