Tom Chavez, Elmhurst D205 Candidate

ELMHURST, IL – Tom Chavez is one of five candidates for three seats on the Elmhurst School District 205 board.

Here are his responses to the Patch questionnaire:

Editor's note: The views expressed in the responses are the candidate's and are unedited by Patch.

Name:

Tom Chavez

Town of residence:

Elmhurst

Age:

60

Campaign email:

tom@tomchavez4d205.com

Family:

Wife, Sue, 3 adult children, Olivia, Marissa, Andrew

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education:

BA DePaul University

Occupation:

Commodity Trader/Commodity Risk Analyst

Previous or current elected or appointed office:

No

The single most pressing issue facing the school board is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing District 205 continues to be substandard academic outcomes.

Outcomes are the finished product at the end of what District 205’s Strategic Plan calls “the Journey of Excellence.” It is these outcomes that determine college acceptance, scholarships and career paths, not 5th or 8th grade IAR scores. Academic outcomes at York High School are what matter the most.

This was an issue during the last school board campaign. Four current board members, Asseff, Trautmann, Henry and Hosler, who were elected to fix the problem, promised the community they had the “secret sauce” for improvement. Two years later, outcomes not only didn’t improve as promised, they worsened significantly.

In 2024, according to publicly available data from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), less than half of York High School graduates were meeting state standards in ELA (50%) or math (49%), down a stunning 4% from the previous year. The goal of the D205 “Strategic Plan” is “college or career readiness.” When District 205 surveyed parents as part of their promised, “community engagement” initiative, 70% said they wanted their “students ready for the next grade level or ultimately college or career ready.

More than half of our students are missing the mark. That’s a sobering statistic for a once top-tier school district.

Substandard academic performance has morphed into a chronic and persistent problem in District 205. ISBE data also shows that academic outcomes had already fallen far below our historical community standards in 2019, before the pandemic.

Most education experts agree that urgent remediation is what’s necessary to get students back on track. Urgently remediating students means quickly assessing curriculum deficiencies and providing additional support or interventions to students who are struggling academically. It also means acting promptly to address their learning gaps to prevent further setbacks in their education.

The question that voters should be asking, especially those with children in D205: Why isn’t this happening, and who is being held accountable?

Superintendent Keisha Campbell is the “CEO” of our school district. In 2024 Keisha Campbell earned $348,321.60 in base salary, bonus, “retirement enhancements” and” “other benefits.” 20-years into her retirement she stands to make another ~$6 million in pension and benefits. That’s an extraordinarily generous compensation package, one that should have performance and accountability attached.

The elected Board of Education (BOE) is responsible for hiring our District’s Superintendent. The BOE is also responsible for continuously assessing performance as measured by the strength or weakness in academic outcomes.

The expectation of the BOE should be that our Superintendent is singularly focused on achieving the highest possible level of academic achievement for every student in our community, regardless of socio-economic status.

If our Superintendent consistently fails to deliver results, it is the elected BOE’s obligation to hold the Superintendent accountable. Neither is currently happening.

Keisha Campbell was given the privilege and the opportunity to shape District 205 in her vision of what excellence should look like. As the “CEO”, she is ultimately responsible for the policies, procedures, curriculum and hiring the right personnel to drive “excellence” in the D205 education machine.

In her 4th year as District 205 “CEO”, there’s a paper trail and track record. This means there’s a collection of documents or records that clearly show Superintendent Campbell’s actions, decisions and history, providing concrete evidence of what she’s done over time.
Every candidate running for school board has the same opportunity that I do to carefully examine her “track record.” The questions that should be asked are: is D205 curating the strongest curriculum, and are policies and procedures facilitating merit, rigor and academic excellence or something else?

Here are just a few examples of Superintendent Keisha Campbell’s policies, procedures, curriculum choices and what she prioritizes.

In January 2022 York High School Principal Bagdasarian enthusiastically reported to parents that York had achieved a 97.18% passing rate, the highest in 5-years. But, to achieve the higher passing rate, he admitted that “academic” standards were lowered. In addition to a no-homework and test re-take policy, Principal Bagdasarian explained that “final exams were also eliminated in favor of a focus on Social Emotional Learning.” While the passing rate soared, academic outcomes did not. In 2022 York SAT scores were abysmal, 52% (ELA), 50% (math). They’re even worse in 2024.

According to the 2023 Illinois Report Card, an alarming 80% of York 12th graders missed 18 or more school days of school. That’s nearly a month of class time and significantly higher than the state average of 42%. In grades 9-11, nearly 25% of students were chronically absent.

Chronic absenteeism among students and teachers is a well-documented cause of learning loss. But, in District 205 the commonsense notion that students and teachers should be held accountable to show up for school was largely ignored. Did lack of accountability facilitate a culture of excellence at York?

The York High School Principal reports up to the Superintendent. At the end of the day, the policies that impact student academic outcomes rest on the shoulders of the D205 “CEO” Keisha Campbell. York Principal Bagdasarian moved on to a superintendent job in another district, but the impact of his “zero accountability” policy lingers on.

What about curriculum?

D205 curriculum is curated by “professional educators” in collaboration with Superintendent Keisha Campbell. The Board of Education has the final say and gives the final approval.

Curriculum is what teachers implement through their lesson plans, and it’s what students actually learn as measured by academic assessments.

Many rank and file teachers, the many good ones in the trenches who deeply care about your children, continue to tell me privately that the Eureka math program is ineffective. Lack of improvement in SAT math outcomes should tell parents we should be listening to them.

I did some independent learning on other school districts that have adopted the Eureka Math program. Here are some of the findings from professional educators:

• Switching to Eureka Math led to increases in students’ math course grades but had no detectable effect on their achievement on standardized math tests.
• Eureka Math is relatively less effective in raising the performance of Black and Hispanic students and female students on standardized tests compared to other students.
• Otherwise similar students had less positive beliefs about math when taught using Eureka Math.
• Teachers using Eureka Math were more likely to report their curriculum was coherent but less likely to feel it was appropriate for their students.
• Teachers in Eureka Math schools were more likely to report using ambitious and culturally responsive instruction and less likely to report using procedural instruction.

Two years ago, the D205 School Board agreed to hire a $47,000 consultant to help improve students’ math achievement in “all grades.” It didn’t work. https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/elmhurst-d-205-eyes-47k-math-consultant-boost-scores

Last February D205 had to confess that not a single low-income student at Sandburg Middle School could meet state standards in math, and less than 6% of low-income 8th graders at Bryan and Churchville were meeting proficiency. https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/elmhurst-school-number-stark-reminder

Does any of this tell parents that D205 is heading in the right direction to improve math outcomes?

Then there are the questionable ELA curriculum choices.

There’s no better example of what seems to be driving D205’s core ELA curriculum selection and adoption than the controversy surrounding the book, “American Street.”

Activists at York posing as educators promoted “American Street” as core curriculum for all York 9th graders. The D205 administrative professionals, including Superintendent Campbell, approved it, and the elected BOE rubber stamped it. https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/obscenities-rock-elmhurst-meeting-girl-covers-ears

In addition to its gratuitous vulgarity and graphic sexual content, the book’s Lexile and reading level score is 690, or a degree of difficulty and complexity targeting 3rd and 4th grade students.
When ELA test results (SAT) were released in October 2024 showing a 4% drop, I went to the school board meeting and asked Superintendent Keisha Campbell pointedly, “what learning module in your Doctoral program told you that giving 3rd grade level reading curriculum to 9th grade students would elevate their academic learning outcomes."

She didn’t answer, and she didn’t need to, because nothing told her that.

So, what then drives these poor curriculum choices; choices that clearly aren’t helping your students to thrive academically, choices that aren’t driving academic excellence and improving SAT scores. Why would our Superintendent conclude that a 3rd grade book, for an already struggling cohort of high school students, was the best core curriculum to help them achieve academic success? Why isn’t the elected school board holding her accountable to choose better, more grade level appropriate curriculum that would likely improve their SAT test scores? Fair question?
What about all the expensive consultants Superintendent Campbell has hired under the guise on improvement?
Two years ago, the D205 School Board agreed to hire a $47,000 consultant to help improve students’ math achievement in “all grades.” It didn’t work. https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/elmhurst-d-205-eyes-47k-math-consultant-boost-scores

The District also hired another “consultant” ….one with a dubious track record, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates and paid them $40,000 to “provide guidance for a Long-Term Strategic Plan.

I challenge any concerned parent or taxpayer to carefully read D205’s “Long-Term Strategic Plan” and explain, with specificity, what the actual plan is. It’s long on ed speak, jargon and platitudes, but woefully short on concrete examples of exactly what the District is doing to improve academic learning outcomes.

Add to the growing list of the District’s wasteful and ineffective “consulting” boondoggles, was the $46,000 paid for Corwin Deep Equity, a program Superintendent Keisha Campbell said was aimed at helping the District, “design an equitable, welcoming learning environment for all students, and “decreasing the measurable equity gaps in academic programming.”

The premise of the Deep Equity Program is that “student achievement is suppressed by White privilege” and that “the dynamics of privilege and power must be confronted to impact real change.” https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/elmhurst-d-205-deep-equity-program-denounced

Not surprisingly, it didn’t work either, in fact, learning outcomes for our communities most vulnerable students, the ones Superintendent Campbell said it would help the most, worsened.

The financial burden of supplementing D205’s deficiencies is falling on the shoulders of exasperated parents. Anyone with their “ear to the ground” knows that many students’ academic success is tied directly to their ability to afford an expensive tutor. And, for high school students applying for college, a growing number are needing costly entrance coaches, and essay specialists to help them.

Demographically, ISBE data shows that academic success in District 205 is determined by socio-economic status. Not surprisingly, those most in favor of the status quo are the families whose wealth, privilege and affluence shield their children from bad policies, lousy curriculum and the inevitable poor academic outcomes. They’re the ones showing up at school board meetings pleading for the status quo and bad curriculum choices under the guise of “inclusion.”

Not one of the activists, including the head of the Elmhurst Public Library Board, who vociferously argued in favor of American Street as “inclusive core ELA curriculum” for York students has said a word about crashing ELA scores at York? I guess whether your student can read at grade level doesn’t matter to them as much as making sure the ideological content slithers its way into “curriculum.”

At the end of the day, District 205 is faltering in its core mission to properly educate all children and prepare them for future success.

Many in opposition to my advocacy and candidacy for D205 Board of Education never challenge my facts or citations as wrong. Instead, they respond angrily and condescendingly to my commonsense notion that schools should focus on academic achievement, provide full curriculum transparency, and hold D205 leadership accountable to deliver strong academic results.

There are numerous examples of high performing school districts in low-income communities. The common denominator in all of them is strong leadership, accountability and setting expectations high for students and their families.

It’s time for the excuses to stop and District 205 leadership to be held accountable to produce strong academic results for our children and the taxpayers on Elmhurst community.
My advocacy will continue toward this goal on or off the school board.

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

The most critical difference between me and the other candidates is my willingness to learn the facts, dig for the truth, critically think about the District’s mission critical issues, and publicly share what I learn with parents, the BOE and taxpayers. My track record of advocacy is transparent and public.

During the pandemic I publicly advocated for unmasking children and reopening our schools sooner rather than later, because the data and evidence said it was safe to do so. It was a roundly criticized and unpopular position that incited angry rebuke, mostly from the Elmhurst progressive crowd and the teacher’s union, but, at the end of the day, it was the right one for the kids.

I have been a mainstay at school board meetings, arguing that parents have the right to know what their children are learning in D205 classrooms, holding activist teachers accountable to follow rules and policy, drawing needed attention to poor curriculum choices and substandard academic outcomes, and closely monitoring how D205 spends your hard earned tax dollars.

If you have a student at York who no longer has to read the vulgar, sexually graphic, 3rd grade level book, “American Street” in its full and complete format, it’s because I went to a school board meeting and shamed the activists posing as educators into removing it. Yes, we do need to find better books judging by the -4% drop in ELA SAT (50% meeting standard in 2024) test scores last year.

More recently, I was instrumental in drawing attention to fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars by D205 administrator, Todd Schmidt. None of the other candidates running for the school board were paying attention to how Elmhurst taxpayer dollars were being abused and misused. Keisha Campbell wasn’t paying attention, and neither was the elected school board that promised “good stewardship of your taxpayer dollars. Bad actor, Todd Schmidt, is gone, and Chris Whelton, who never saw a tax increase or wasteful spending he didn’t like, will soon follow.

There’s is a critical difference between just talking about the issues and demonstrating that’s you’ll actually do something about them.

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

Every candidate running for school board is intelligent and college educated. The question really isn’t whether the candidates running for school board “can handle the job”, the real question is whether they will actually do the job.

My personal and/or professional accomplishments aren’t nearly as relatable to this as is what I’ve done over many years in my persistent public advocacy for improvement in D205. Voters can rest assured I can and will do the job if Elmhurst is ready for course correction.

The state has given its worst financial rating to the district; that rating remains in effect. Is this fair? What can be done about it?

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) sets the reporting rules and deadlines for all 851-school districts in Illinois, including District 205, no exceptions.

The question isn’t really, “if it’s fair” …the question is, why at the reporting deadline was District 205 designated one of only 7 other school districts’ in the state receiving the dubious designation, “Credit Watch.” The other 6 school districts hail from low-income communities, such as Dolton.

Last year D205 also received a low rating, “Early Warning.” At that time D205 told the community that “changes in the District’s accounting procedures caused the low credit rating, but by next year the District would receive the top financial rating.” It didn’t happen. We dropped to the lowest instead.

The District is once again explaining away the poor credit rating as the result of “procedural accounting changes” and the community need not worry. Keep your fingers crossed that this is the case.

But, taxpayers should understand that D205 is spending a lot of money. Capital projects exceeded their original budgets by $23 million, requiring D205 to pull the funds from other parts of the budget to cover.

We also know that two high level D205 administrator’s largely responsible for overseeing budgets, finances and contracts around the expensive capital projects are gone or on their way out. Todd Schmidt was arrested for stealing from his own mother, then was found to be misusing his D205 purchasing card for ~$50,000 in personal expenses. Chris Whelton was asked to leave, because he failed to supervise Schmidt. Given the current state of District 205’s finances, and the behavior of two high level administrators overseeing millions of dollars in contracts and spending, a thorough and independent investigation is warranted. I suggest one that’s independent of the BOE.

As the District continues to promote “financial stability” while on “credit watch”, a probing and thoughtful question the community should ask Superintendent Keisha Campbell and/or D205 Board President Arvanitis is this:

832 out of 851 school districts in Illinois received the top two financial designations, only 19 were in the bottom two. I assume D205 isn’t the only district with capital projects, or the only one using an accounting system that recognizes revenue when they do. So, why aren’t more school districts with capital projects and the same accounting system also on credit watch or early warning?

These are the types of questions that serious school board candidates should be asking on behalf of constituents.

During the last school board election, every candidate that won a seat on the D205 Board of Education was in favor of raising taxes, in favor of more spending, and promised full transparency and good stewardship of precious taxpayer dollars. Recent events show those were empty promises.

If called on to represent Elmhurst taxpayers, I will ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars is a priority. The best way to proceed is to “trust, but verify.”

Are the district's property taxes too high, too low or just about right? Explain.

Every Elmhurst resident should be in favor of ensuring our public schools are well-funded.

At the same time, the BOE should ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent resourcefully and respectfully.

In 2010 the D205 spent per student was $12,700. In 15 years, the cost has jumped ~50% to $19,000, even more if the expensive capital projects are included.

The people most impacted by soaring property taxes are middle and low-income families and retirees on fixed incomes. For them, Elmhurst is fast becoming unaffordable.

The D205 Board of Education needs to look more closely at spending. For example, I identified nearly $150,000 taxpayer dollars wasted on outside “consultants” that had no positive impact on the problems they were hired to fix.

Careful examination of D205 payroll expenses shows nearly 60 non-teaching, administrative positions to run 12 schools costing taxpayers nearly $7 million before benefits.

The D205 BOE should look closely at overlap and redundancy and try to run a leaner, more efficient system.

I’m quite certain there are ways to eliminate waste and reduce unnecessary costs and to be more administratively efficient to save taxpayer dollars.

That said, taxes are too high, especially considering the 50% higher cost has delivered markedly lower academic outcomes.

Do you support the district's increase in the number of employees even while enrollment is flat? Why or why not?

Enrollment isn’t flat, it’s down over 4% since 2018. I think class size should support an optimal student learning environment based on feedback and consensus from front-line teachers, not administrators walking around with a clipboard. Student to teacher ratios have remained fairly flat, while there has been an increase in costly payroll at the administrative level.

Based on the persistently weak student outcomes, perhaps it’s time for the BOE to closely examine the ROI on the growing number of administrators?

What is your view of students' performance on standardized tests? What can be done to improve scores?

It’s shameful and unacceptable. Outcomes matter, because college entrance, scholarships and career paths can be determined by SAT scores. While other things certainly factor into a student’s post-secondary success, SAT test scores measure proficiency in core academic subjects, math and ELA after 12-years in D205. When only 50% of students are meeting state standards, parents and taxpayers should be asking, “what’s going on.”?? What’s the ROI for Elmhurst taxpayers for $19K annual per student spend or $228K over 12-years?

Improvement requires re-prioritizing rigor, merit, academic achievement, accountability and ensuring we are providing students with the best possible curriculum to help them learn academically.

York SAT scores dropped a stunning 4% in 2024 (50% ELA) (49% math) even after District 205 Superintendent Keisha Campbell and her administration told the community they anticipated a 3% increase. https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/huge-miss-elmhurst-d205-failed-meet-sat-goal

Among the things that can be done, and should have been done long ago, is attaching accountability and performance to high paying administrative jobs, such as Superintendent.

How can the district narrow the gap in performance between low- and high-income students?

Among the ways District 205 can narrow the gap in educational outcomes is to start by creating a culture that prioritizes academic excellence and high expectations from all students, regardless of skin color or socio-economic status.

Students in need of additional academic support should be identified and supported with tutoring, among other things.

There exist numerous examples of high performing school districts in low-income communities.
The common denominators are strong leadership, setting expectations high for students and parents, and holding them accountable.

What didn’t work, and what D205 shouldn’t be doing, is wasting money ($46,000) on expensive programs, like Corwin Deep Equity, that told students their “achievement is being suppressed by White privilege.” https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/elmhurst-d-205-deep-equity-program-denounced

Time for Superintendent Keisha Campbell to turn the page on identity politics, and laser focus on academic achievement.

How is the district doing in getting good and bad news to the community?

If I had to grade D205 on how well it informs the community I’d give it an “F.”

Anyone who carefully reads the newsletters and communications published by the D205 PR Dept. quickly figures out they are meant more to mislead and deceive than to honestly and transparently inform parents and the community about the state of our public education system.

The D205 PR machine is adept at cherry picking and highlighting nuggets of good information, while hiding or not mentioning big problems.

A good example is the 10th Edition of the D205 Community Connections newsletter that we received at the end of 2024, shortly after D205 was placed on credit watch and test scores were released showing SAT scores plunged 4% at York.

The D205 PR Dept. got right to work promoting the District’s “financial stability” by showcasing a “Certificate of Excellence” it supposedly received from an organization whose office address is a UPS store in a strip mall in Maryland.

As it turns out, D205 purchased the “award” from the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) for $1,275. Chris Whelton wrote the check, and ASBO sent the award.
https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/pay-play-scheme-elmhurst-d205-award

It was a real head scratcher how a school district recently placed on “credit watch” could, at the same time, be recognized and awarded for “financial stability.”

The same PR piece skipped right past the abysmal outcomes at York as if these students are invisible, but made sure to spotlight improvements in lower grades.

I brought a copy of the newsletter to the school board meeting, and told district leadership that people don’t expect perfection, and understand there are challenges, and that people are more likely to support them if they know they’re being straight-forward and honest with them.

My advocacy for the District being more transparent and honest with parents was noted in this Patch article: https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/elmhurst-d205-leader-notes-falling-sat-scores

There’s a lot of room for improvement by D205 when it comes to honesty and transparency.

How do you view the district's handling of the situation around its former facilities director, Todd Schmidt?

The District was egregiously “asleep at the switch” with Todd Schmidt.

It was “watchdog” parents, like me, who brought Todd Schmidt to the attention of the press, and ultimately to the attention of D205 and the BOE.

The dots were easy to connect if anyone, including Superintendent Keisha Campbell, was paying attention.

Any person who would (allegedly) steal from his own mother, while her utilities were shut off, and who handles finances and contracts on behalf of Elmhurst taxpayers should have been watched closely.

As it turned out, it was right to be suspicious. And, while Todd Schmidt is gone, and his boss, Chris Whelton, who overlooked Schmidt’s misuse of taxpayer dollars will be gone soon, the question is, who reviewed the $23 million in project overruns? Whelton, Schmidt, Keisha Campbell?

Furthermore, why didn’t one D205 Board Member know about this or investigate Schmidt or Whelton until a watchdog parent made his behavior public?

I was told that Schmidt brought in a facilities service’s contractor called HELM from his hometown, Rockford. I was also told that Schmidt handed out keys and D205 building access to HELM employees without requiring them to go through the D205 vetting process. This would render whatever security protocols D205 has established useless, right? If this is correct, who should be held accountable? Keisha Campbell, the BOE? Does this put the safety and security of students at risk?

Didn’t Asseff, Henry, Trautmann and Hosler promise good stewardship of your tax dollars during the last election? It appears they’re good at throwing wine parties to campaign for “referendums” and more tax dollars, but when it comes to the “good stewardship” part, they’re not too interested. Staying on top of things like bad employees, misuse of your tax dollars, and ensuring $23 million in cost overruns are scrutinized takes time, effort and some heavy lifting.

So much for the promised good stewardship.

The district has declined to say who authorized Mr. Schmidt's personal spending on the district's credit card. Should the district reveal this information? Why or why not?

Once again, the District is “stonewalling” parents and taxpayers. This isn’t new behavior.
Superintendent Keisha Campbell needs to come clean on the Schmidt/Whelton regime and provide full and complete transparency to the taxpayers of Elmhurst. Every contract that Whelton/Schmidt touched needs heavy scrutiny. Anything less is completely unacceptable and should raise eyebrows and suspicion that D205 has something to hide from taxpayers.

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

No

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Voters should know that I’m motivated by good governance and improvement in academic outcomes for our children, not ideology and politics. As a member of the BOE I would work collaboratively and tirelessly in pursuit of these outcomes on behalf of our students, parents and taxpayers of Elmhurst. The community deserves nothing less.

My advocacy for improvement will continue on or off the school board.