Meet Alan L. Kastengren: Orland School District 135 Candidate

ORLAND PARK, IL — Meet Alan L. Kastengren, School Board candidate for Orland School District 135. The Consolidated Elections are April 6.

Kastengren recently filled out the Patch candidate survey, and his answers can be seen below.

If you are a candidate for the April election, and would like to answer our Patch candidate questionnaire, please email yasmeen.sheikah@patch.com.

Alan L. Kastengren

Age (as of election)

40

Town/city of residence

Orland Park

School District

Orland School District 135/ District 230

Family

My wife, Jennifer, and two daughters, a third-grader and a sixth grader, both District 135 students.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No. My wife has volunteered her time as an active member of Parents for Education (PFE) and is currently co-president of the Meadow Ridge PFE.

Education

Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Occupation

I have worked for 15 years as an engineer and scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. Note: my opinions are my own and not those of Argonne.

Campaign website

http://www.kastengrenfor135.com/

Previous or current elected or appointed office

I have served as a volunteer member of District 135's Technology Board Advisory Committee since 2019.

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

Though the district faces a number of long-term challenges, managing and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic is clearly the most pressing issue for the district for the next year. Our best approach is to follow the science on COVID-19 as laid out in guidance from the CDC and local public health officials. This guidance requires wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and promoting hand washing. I think the district's current approach is largely mirroring this guidance and should be flexible as local case numbers and public health guidance change. While we await loosening of public health guidance, we should start planning how we will phase in normal activities (such as lunch at school, PE classes, sports, and music classes) so we are ready when this becomes feasible. We also need to start thinking about how we recover from the pandemic. We need to look carefully at test data to understand how much ground our children have lost due to COVID-19. The board should start planning the needed resources to help children catch back up. The board must work to restore to their pre-pandemic levels the programs, such as enrichment, libraries, and music programs, that have been decimated in the effort to keep the schools running this year. And finally, we should think about what lessons we have learned from the pandemic that we could codify in case of a future pandemic or other disaster.

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

I have a demonstrated ability to make data-driven decisions. My work as a scientist requires learning about new topics, incorporating data, and working with others to achieve a goal, skills the District 135 school board needs. I have also been committed to serving this community on the technology advisory committee since 2019. That has helped me learn much better how the board and district work behind the scenes. My commitment to District 135 is long-term, not just for this election.

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

My most serious critique of the current board is their communications with the community. I was motivated to run for the school board by the budget cuts the board approved two years ago, shortly before the last school board election. I felt blindsided by such drastic cuts to education by the board, as did many other parents. Their communications this fall regarding school reopening were far too confusing. I also think the board does too little to listen to the community, whether that be parents, teachers, or staff. A board that only listens to the school administration at board meetings cannot effectively oversee the district. The board needs to regularly hear from the teachers at board meetings, and should regularly hold town hall meetings to answer questions from the community.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

The most important issues facing the district long-term relate to how we foster better student achievement. Foremost in my mind is class sizes. The class sizes in District 135 in all grades, but especially in the junior high grades, are well above state averages, and there are significant differences in class sizes between schools at the same grade level. While the board has broached the idea of boundary changes to even out class sizes, that does not fix the fundamental problem of overcrowded classrooms. We need smaller classes, not just moving around an overcrowding problem.

The second issue is technology. I think we are lucky that we had a 1:1 technology program when the COVID-19 lockdown began this spring. I am worried, though, that our children are missing skills they need to succeed. The district no longer teaches cursive writing, and does not formally teach typing, despite typing being part of the state standards. I am concerned that this will hinder our children's ability to learn to write well. I am also quite skeptical that iPads are the right platform for junior high students, from whom we expect longer writing assignments.

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

Research is at the heart of what I do at my job, and requires many skills that will be needed by school board members. These include a willingness to learn about unfamiliar topics, take advice from experts, make decisions by looking carefully at data, and work with others to get things done. Research also requires patience, dedication, and the willingness to change one's mind based on evidence. I have a demonstrated track record of success in this work, from dozens of published scientific papers to awards for research, and I will bring these skills to my work on the District 135 board.

Why should voters trust you?

I am committed to education, both for my own children and for all of the children in Orland Park. My wife's family have lived in Orland Park for over 35 years. I am proud to call such a vibrant community home, and I am committed to serving it as best I can. I have spent the past 18 months volunteering on the technology advisory committee to serve the community as best I could. I also have no plans to run for any other political office. My only purpose in running for the District 135 board is to maintain and strengthen the quality schools Orland Park is known for.

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

The goal of the school district is education. The one thing that would make me consider my term in office a success is improvements in student achievement. Such improvements will require careful thought and planning, from staffing to curriculum to technology, and effort from the school board, school administration, teachers, parents, and students.

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

District budgets have been an ongoing issue for the past few years. The school district gets most of its funding from property taxes, and state law strictly constrains how much the district can raise property taxes. After the controversy regarding budget cuts two years ago, the district's fiscal management has improved. I think there are a few actions the board can take to manage the budget even better. The board can lobby local lawmakers to make sure that the district gets its fair share of state aid. The school administration can more aggressively pursue federal grant money and make sure the district has an effective plan to spend that money. The board should take a very close look at administrative and support positions to see if there are inefficiencies. And finally, the board should be skeptical about handing out tax incentives that harm the district's tax base.

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?

Two of our most fundamental rights as Americans is the right to equality before the law and the right to peacefully protest. I respect the frustration of those from marginalized communities who have felt the continuing sting of injustice. I also respect the difficult work of the police, who put their lives on the line to keep us safe. I think Orland Park is fortunate to have a professional, effective police force that serves our community well, and I thank them for their work. I think what we need as a nation is less anger and more understanding of those with different backgrounds than ourselves. We should all work toward a society where every person, from the most privileged and powerful to the most marginalized, is both given the opportunity to exploit their talents fully and held into account for their misdeeds.

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

Achievement gaps between white and racial minority students are narrower in District 135 than for the state as a whole, though still substantial. There is more work to be done in striving to eliminate these achievement gaps both in our district and for the state as a whole. The school board must communicate well and, more importantly, listen to the community to ensure that inequities are quickly and effectively addressed. As an example, I think the addition of Eid al-Fitr as a non-attendance day of school this year was appropriate given the growing Muslim population in our community and concerns about attendance of Muslim students on that day.

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 think the district certainly made some mistakes in their approach to the pandemic last year. Their current approach matches quite well with CDC guidance, and so long as the district can enforce mask wearing, maintain social distance, and promote hand washing, I think the current approach is reasonable. I think the learning model the district should use has to be flexible, based on community case numbers, with the understanding that different families will judge the risks of in-person instruction differently. I think a mask mandate is appropriate, as suggested by the CDC. Mandatory testing is not recommended by the CDC.

Given the burden it would place on the schools, which are already struggling to maintain in-person instruction, I do not think mandatory testing would be wise at this time.

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

To put this question in context, the state requires students and staff to be immune from chickenpox, which is far less deadly than COVID-19. I would like to see some actual data on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in children before making any decisions on requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students. The district should at the moment strongly encourage staff to get vaccinated (many of which already have been) and work to understand the concerns of staff who choose not to get vaccinated to come up with the best policies for the future. As a district, we should start keeping track of who is immune from COVID-19 (due to vaccination or COVID-19 infection) to better plan for the coming school year.

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 ____________

When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me that he had never met a man he couldn't learn something from. As I have gotten older, I have realized the wisdom of that advice. Being humble enough to try to learn from anyone has helped me be a better scientist, a better husband, and a better father. I will bring that humility and willingness to learn to my work as a school board member.