Community Must Count in School Board Elections

Is community engagement a high priority for our local school board candidates?

It better be. On any school district organization chart, Community is at the top.  They have one employee – the School Board.  Every two years the Community has the opportunity to conduct a performance evaluation on those members whose terms are expiring yet want to continue to be employed. 

There is no tenure on school boards. New applicants have just as much a chance at proving themselves to the Community to secure one of those four-year positions.

Over the past few weeks, Community Consolidated School District 15 and Township High School District 211 school board candidates had the opportunity to answer questions in public forums and complete questionnaires from the media.  Most have gone further to engage the community by walking precincts, holding informal listening sessions or coffees – and setting up web sites to prove they deserve to serve the Community. 

Incumbents are the easiest to evaluate. They have a record of Aye or Nay votes. They had the opportunity to prove their effectiveness as an elected school board member.

If they haven’t made communication a priority by now – it’s not going to happen. If they do not understand their place on the organization chart – it’s futile. 

Palatine Patch asked the District 15 candidates a question – What would you do to improve communication and trust between the school board and the community?

Incumbent James Ekeberg’s response was most revealing - “I believe the administration is hard at work developing a relationship with the community through the Navigate15 program.” 

That wasn’t the question. Isn’t it the school board’s duty to develop its own relationship with the Community to improve communications and build trust?

Both the Illinois Association of School Boards and National School Board Association think so. In fact they note that it is the duty of the elected school board to engage in a two-way conversation with the entire community.

Navigate15 was initiated by Superintendent Scott Thompson. He was hired by the school board and reports to them – not the Community.  These are not town hall meetings offering the school board an opportunity to hear from a broad sample of the public and to engage in dialogue with participants. It is a one-way presentation of information from the administration.

Less than 90 people attended the last two Navigate15 meetings and a significant percentage have been school employees.

The District 15 school board can and must do a better job at making the Community count.  It must be proactive and continually seek their input. It is their responsibility as elected officials.

National School Board Association executive directors Michael Resnick and Anne Bryant wrote in their essay School Boards and the Power of the Public that “School boards are most effective if they engage the community to understand its needs and values, take advantage of its knowledge, and gain its support for implementing major decisions.”

Before you vote Tuesday, April 5 – determine for yourself which candidates effectively engage the community and  understand their role on the district's organization chart.

Editor's note: If you are candidate for District 211 and District 15 school board and have a web site that was not included please notify brian.slupski@patch.com and it will be added.

District 15 Candidates
Sriram, Herr and Iannuzzelli (www.vote135.org/

Ekeberg, Chapman, Seiffert

District 211 Candidates

Golash, Neal, Burke, Robertson

Other links

District 15 PRTO Forum Video 
NW Suburban Council PTA Forum (coming soon)