Andrew Morrison: Candidate For Deerfield School District 109

DEERFIELD, IL — Ahead of the April 6 consolidated municipal elections, Deerfield Patch provided questionnaires to all candidates on the ballot.

Eight candidates are vying for four seats on the Deerfield School District 109 Board of Education on Election Day. They include two incumbents (Andrew Morrison and Sari Montgomery) and six challengers (Dana Blumberg, James D’Angelo, Valarie Hays, Kelly Jakymiw, Jonathan Silver and Maureen G. Wener). Current trustees Kate Bittner and Scott Kluge are not running for reelection.

Deerfield Patch is publishing all responses submitted by candidates verbatim.

Andrew Morrison

Age (as of election day)

59

School district

DPS 109/113

Family

Married, 4 children

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

BA, U. of IL (Champaign); JD, U. of California, Berkeley; MBA in Finance, U. of Chicago

Occupation

Business

Campaign website

n/a

Previous or current elected or appointed office

Current DPS 109 board member (appointed)

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The most pressing issue right now for the district is getting our students back into school while keeping our students and staff safe; the most pressing issue once they're back will be to recognize and address the profound challenges our students will be bringing back to school with them. Longer term, I would like to see the district evolve its approach to more powerfully reflect what is already known about healthy child development. The board plays a pivotal role, in partnership with the community and the administration, in creating this vision and plan.

However, the most pressing issues facing the board are different. The first issue for the board is to establish healthier and more clear standards setting forth what is the board's role to play, and what should be owned by the administration. In the relatively short time I have been on the board, it seems that these boundaries have not been well defined or consistently enforced. This practice has resulted in inefficiency and frustration within the district, and confusion and frustration within our community. The second important issue for the board is to engage more actively with the community and our educators, so that the board has multiple sources of information and input regarding the values and priorities of our community, the progress of the district and the fidelity with which the district is implementing the vision established in the district's strategic plan.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I bring a unique combination of skills and experiences to the board, specifically:
(1) 25 years experience running education and education management companies in close partnership with public school districts around the country. As a result, I have acquired knowledge, experience and expertise about what it takes to change an education system. I understanding how schools work, and have an appreciation for importance of the process around how decisions are made and implemented, and the impact that process has on the experience and outcomes for students, staff and families.
(2) a deep and broad background in business, finance, technology, law and investment banking;
(3) many years experience interacting with teachers, administrators and school boards, including running a company employing more than 1,000 K-12 educators and specialists; and
(4) my experience as a new but current member of the DPS 109 board.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community or district?

N/A

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

The district needs a better vision and more robust strategic plan that will provide our students and staff the opportunity to learn and teach in a school district that is a model for "how to do school." We are a small, well-resourced community, with highly-engaged and resourceful parents. We span only K-8, which should enable us to specialize even further on best practices.

These attributes give DPS 109 the opportunity to create schools and opportunities for our kids that are more engaging, more personal, more innovative and more impactful. Even prior to Covid, too many of our students were bored, stressed or disengaged from school by the time they left the district after 8th grade. I look forward to seeing our district advance to a new level of achievement, where students not only perform well academically, but where our schools also ignite curiosity, inspiration, motivation and purpose in our students.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have a variety of successful endeavors in my past; however, I suggest that interested parties should review my young tenure on the board as the best evidence as to whether they believe I can handle (or should be entrusted with) this position.

Why should voters trust you?

Actions speak louder than words; I believe my tenure on the board has reflected values of integrity, transparency and honesty.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office a success

Looking longer-term (beyond Covid and its immediate impact), I would see my term in office as a success if my influence on the board resulted in the adoption of a vision and strategic plan for the district that prioritized cutting edge instructional best practices and programs (e.g., more inspired project-based learning), strategies for building meaningful connections between the students and their schools, and where students are more fulfilled, more inspired, more flexible and less stressed/anxious than they were even before Covid arrived, while maintaining academic rigor.

In addition, I would hope to promote better communication among staff, administration, the board and community members, along with the transparent processes and commitments needed to build deeper trust and engagement. For example, I would like to see the district establish a "Change Management Playbook" so all constituents know how change will happen, where and when in the process input will be collected, what will happen with that input and how it will be shared back out, how decisions will be tested and then made, what timelines will be followed, etc.

While both of these initiatives pre-dated my tenure on the board, I believe that the district's Math Program changes and its venture into Standards Based Grading would have been much better experiences for all involved had a formal, transparent, predicable and structured change-management process been in place.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the handling of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

More and more spending does not necessarily equate to a better education, nor does fiscal restraint necessarily lead to an inferior one. I'd like to see the board and the administration ask more of these hard questions.

Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

The BLM movement is an inevitable and long-overdue demand for justice; it is heartbreaking to me that all Americans are not standing together in defense of the civil, political and human rights of our fellow citizens. The complaint that some people in the protests break the law or are acting badly is a distraction from the fundamental question: Do all of our brothers and sisters have the right to due process, justice and equal protection under the law?

How can it be that there are “two sides” to this issue? For people who want law and order, the law provides for equal protection under the law, innocent until proven guilty, due process, a jury of your peers, civil rights, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. . . . These are the laws; respecting and enforcing these equally is what the law provides. That’s what law and order look like.

For people who want to make America great again, these are the very hallmarks of America’s greatness. And the victims of this brutality are our brothers and sisters, your brothers and sisters, part of the very fabric and history of our great nation. Great Americans are called upon to protect the rights and dignity of their fellow Americans.

This isn’t about demonizing our nation’s police. There are over 800,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. They are comprised of all races and the overwhelming majority of our nation’s law enforcement officers are decent, honorable people devoted to the service, support and safety of their communities. But neither are they exceptional; they are imperfect people as are we all. Sometimes they make mistakes in good faith; sometimes they make good decisions that turn out to be wrong; and sometimes, they are criminal—just like society at large.

But in the end, we must insist on a system that protects the rights of all with equal enthusiasm and vigor and holds all people equally accountable for their misdeeds with consistent standards of accountability and mercy. . . all irrespective of their race, or their profession, or their wealth or their connections,

That is in fact the story we tell ourselves about America. While there is disagreement these days about what is wrong with America and how to best achieve our vision for its future, this is one thing that all Americans could and should agree on. It is the bedrock of our American dream and the cornerstone of our collective future.

Do you think the current board has done enough to support racial equality, and if not, what specifically should be done to do so?

The district (and the board) have not yet done enough to support racial equity, access and inclusion; moreover, there are also policies and practices in place that may be creating barriers related to economics, home language and household educational levels. A comprehensive survey and review in coordination with the administration's equity committee would be beneficial. Once we have a better understanding of the gaps and opportunities we can develop a prioritized plan, in partnership with the community and staff.

What are your thoughts on the district’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic? Are you in favor of remote learning, in-person learning or a hybrid of the two? Do you support a mask mandate for students and school staff, or mandatory coronavirus testing for both students and staff?

I believe the district has done an admirable job navigating unprecedented times where it seemed decisions were literally a matter of life and death. At any point in time, a significant portion of our community (although not always the same portion) has been upset and/or disappointed. Each family wants passionately what they believe is best for their own children. . . and who wouldn't? But the district has to approach these questions with the entirety of the district in mind.

However, as remote learning has continued for an extended period of time now, and the consequences / costs of remote learning grow heavier on our kids, and as important mitigations are now in place, the calculus is shifting significantly.

At the present time (2/20/21), I continue to support a mask mandate for students and staff (with some limited but necessary exceptions); I also support mandatory testing for students (with the understanding that there are hospital-quality health-data protections around student health data), and also with some limited but necessary exceptions. I would also support mandatory testing for staff but it is my understanding that mandatory testing is prohibited by the union contract. I asked the administration if parents could be informed about whether their student's teacher declined testing. It is my understanding that sharing this information is also prohibited. My next question is whether teachers who decline to be tested can be assigned exclusively to remote learning duties so that they will not be in the same room with students, (without communicating anything externally about health, testing or vaccine status). I do not yet know if this is possible.

When the vaccine is available to them, do you support mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for students and staff?

No, I do not.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No.

The best advice ever shared with me was ____________

Everyone is looking for the same thing.