School District 219 candidates discuss diversity and safety in schools

The four candidates running for Niles Township High School District 219 Board of Education discussed vocational opportunities, cell phones in schools, and priorities for the district in a student-led forum at Niles West High School on March 11.

The District 219 board candidates are Lindley Wisnewski, Nour Akhras, Kandice Cooley- Jones, and Eric C. Brown. They are running for three seats.

The forum was sponsored by the Niles West and Niles North student governments, and Niles West Politics and Current Events Club. Candidates each had 90 seconds to answer the questions, which were written by students from both high schools.

Top priorities for District 219

Akhras said listening to teacher feedback is important because teachers are on the frontlines of student learning and making the school environment better for students. As a pediatrician, she said, she would like to see more financial resources put toward having more counselors and psychologists to support students’ mental health and social well-being. Hiring teachers and staff that reflect the diversity of the student body is also one of her priorities, she said, because students who share a similar background with their teachers tend to do better in school. Akhras has one child currently at a District 219 school, another who will be an incoming freshman and two younger children who she says will attend in the future.

Cooley-Jones, the current vice-president of Skokie-Morton Grove School District 69 Board of Education, echoed Akhras and said she would also make hiring diverse teachers and staff a priority. She said District 219 could do a better job engaging with both the school community and taxpayers in the district who don’t have children in the school system. Cooley-Jones is a graduate of Niles West High School and has two children, with one currently attending a district school.

“They (district taxpayers) want to know what's going on at the school. They want to engage, they want to be a part of that,” Cooley-Jones said. “It's important that we engage with them in that and see how we can do a better job of growing that communication and engagement with everybody because they're all stakeholders in this educational place.”

Brown said that his top priorities are “finances, facilities and food services.” As a data scientist, he feels he can apply his skill with quantitative data to school budgets. Construction is underway at the schools to expand facilities, he said, and as a board member he would make sure the projects stay on track and that vendors are paid. Brown, who has one child attending school in the district, said his family keeps kosher and that he appreciates that District 219 accommodates varying food needs of students.

Wisnewski said her number one priority is for students to feel that “they can be themselves without any repercussions.” Hiring a diverse staff also makes a difference in student learning, she said, and this is something that she has been working on for years as a current board member in District 69. The district must also prioritize ways to retain teachers, such as professional development and team building opportunities, she said. Wisnewski, who has one child in District 219 and a younger child in District 69, said supporting mental health resources and promoting them to students is also important.

“For me, it's about the visibility. I want the kids to know that it's there, the mental health support is there for you,” Wisnewski said. “I know that they have that information on their student IDs, but is it on the walls? Are the mental health teachers and social workers coming in and saying hi, and really trying to engage with our kids and making a relationship happen?”

Strengths and weaknesses

All of the candidates said that diversity is one of District 219’s strengths. Cooley-Jones said District 219 has been fiscally responsible and has been making decisions focused on students’ needs. Making schools a welcoming place has been an ongoing issue, and while she understands that it takes time to build this positive environment, Cooley-Jones said that as someone who attended Niles West, she wonders when the environment shifted from her school days.

“It's always been very diverse, but I feel like right now we're in a space where, we need to learn how to create a better culture,” Cooley-Jones said. “I think that's something that needs to be worked on from the top down.”

Brown said when he was a student he wasn’t very interested in academics, and that what he really loved about his school experience was the extracurricular activities. He praised District 219’s wide variety of extracurricular activities, which he says are great for students. One of the weaknesses is the district’s high student-to-dollar spending ratio, said Brown, who called for more transparency on the reasons for this.

Wisnewski called for more communication and transparency around the board’s decision-making processes. Information should be clearly outlined to the public, she said, and although the board can’t make everyone happy, being more open with the community means at least there’s an understanding on how decisions were reached.

Akhras praised past decisions by the board to pay down debt, saying they’ve given the district a fiscally strong foundation. Although the district is committed to anti-bullying, anti-racism, and anti-hate, she said students she has heard from are still very concerned about these issues. She said the district should be more proactive about preventing these incidents.

“I think in medicine we say an ounce of prevention is greater than a pound of cure. And I feel like we need to be more preemptive rather than reactive,” Akhras said. “It's great that we have restorative justice, but I think maybe more preemption is necessary.”

Vocational programs

When asked about how they would help District 219 students who are not planning on going to college, Wisnewski said the district should be working with students on this from the beginning of their high school experience. It starts with talking to students about community college, trade schools, and other career options, she said, and sharing resources to help them achieve their goals, along with adult support. It should be viewed as just as important as preparing college applications.

Akhras said work needs to be done to normalize not going to college as an option. It’s great that the district already offers classes that prepare students for trade school, she said, and finding ways to destigmatize it and continuing to offer programs and resources is important.

Cooley-Jones said District 219 already has a lot of non-college educational options but that these could be communicated better so that students know what is available. The district can collaborate with local industries and businesses to give students meaningful opportunities to gain insight into different career paths.

As someone who grew up in a blue-collar family, Brown said there is a stigma attached to workers without a college degree and that there shouldn’t be. He would like to see the superintendent provide a “State of the Shop” report that focuses on how things are going with the district’s vocational programs. Brown said he would also advocate for Family and Consumer Sciences Education (FACS) in the schools, so that students can learn skills such as how to balance a budget and consumer rights.

Diversity and safety

The candidates were asked how they would make the schools safer, particularly for students of color. Akhras said she applauds students who have spoken up about this issue and said the district needs to listen to them. Bullying starts with dehumanization, she said, and one of the ways to address this is through storytelling.

“Ultimately I think keeping an environment of inclusivity and anti-racism starts from the top,” Akhras said. “Hatred cannot be tolerated, and it has to be talked about and confronted and checked every single time.”

Cooley-Jones said District 219 should have policies that have direct consequences, because “if you're out in the real world and you're doing hate speech or you're attacking someone due to their race, there is a consequence.” Biases are often formed because of a lack of education on U.S. history and how people of color are affected by it in the past and the present day.

Brown said teaching empathy is a good starting point, and echoed Cooley-Jones that having an effective policy is important.

“They (policies) need to be reviewed…so we need to have principles, policies and practice,” Brown said. “The application of these policies in a fair way is critical.”

Wisnewski said she agrees with the other candidates about a strong policy but that it shouldn’t be punitive. Instead of only having in-home suspension as a consequence, she said, there should be an anti-hate education component. Wisnewski said teachers and staff should also receive professional development so that they can spot problems and advocate for their students.

Cell phones in schools

In light of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s recent comments about banning cell phones in schools, candidates were asked what their policy would be towards cell phone use.

Brown said he isn’t teaching in a high school classroom so he can’t assess its effects on students. As a former professor, he recalls being disappointed when he saw students on their phones in class and felt they were missing out on the full school experience. He said he doesn’t know the answer but that “there’s a time and place” for cell phones.

Wisnewski, Akhras, and Cooley-Jones said the word “ban” is very strong, and they advocated for a balanced approach. Wisnewski said we need to “follow the science” on the effects of cell phones in the classroom, and that it would be great to have a focus group on this topic. As a parent, she would like her child to be able to contact her but also wants to make sure her child is getting a good education and isn’t just staring at a phone during the school day.

Akhras said she feels that cell phones are distracting to learning, and that she has heard from teachers who have seen this firsthand in the classroom. She supports Niles West’s current policy, where teachers have the option of using cell phone caddies in their classrooms so that students don’t have access to them during instructional time. The students are allowed to use the phones between passing periods and at lunch. Akhras also said she would like her children to be able to call her in an emergency, but that cell phones should be put away during instructional time.

Cooley-Jones agreed that giving teachers the option of using cell phone caddies is working, and that some teachers have found ways to use cell phones as part of classroom activities. With the increasing use of artificial intelligence in society, she said students may need to use cell phones to learn these skills more than computers. Cooley-Jones said a full ban seems extreme and she hopes the state legislature will allow districts to decide for themselves.

Wisnewski and Brown said that if the state legislature passed a state-wide school cell phone policy, they would ensure District 219 follows the law.

The full video of the candidates forum is available here.