Activist Toolkit

1) What motivates you to seek this office? What makes you qualified to serve? What metrics of success do you plan on holding yourself accountable to?

D209 is now 62% Latino and as the very first Latina elected to this board representation matters. As an immigrant from Colombia, I came to this country with $200 in my pocket and started waiting tables, cleaning houses, I worked at a subway, I read for the blind, and did every and any odd job to get my siblings through college as I had promised my parents when they passed away. I was 21. Fortunately, I had the language skills and the will to overcome all adversity that I faced both emotionally and physically. I knew I had an opportunity in life if only I could study. Education opened the door for me.  My life changed once I finished college. My background is in Psychology, Music therapy, Montessori education, Bilingual education, educational leadership, and science.

My motivation stems from the fact that students do not have a voice, youth are so misunderstood and underserved. Our youth in many events come to me and say, thank you for being my voice, thank you for always having the courage to stand up for us, no one ever does. Many latinos feel voiceless in our District.  Even with this tool, with the debates, with over half of our population being bilingual and 30% of the parents not able to speak English,  (that was the data we received from the Equity study in 2020), we need more translation services, and forums in Spanish to address. The growing need of our growing community so that they feel included. We are currently underserving many of the students in the district, there are great needs in Special Ed, ELL, and culturally diverse activities to help all student feel supported and impacted.

My experience District has given me knowledge, relationships, and Data as to what does and does not work. My experience in Education as the Owner of a school, professor and advocate bring empathy and allow me look for evidence-based solutions to practical issues that have come about in the district. Institutional knowledge helps me to understand the impact of certain actions and to for see the impact that they could have. 

The metrics that hold the board and Superintendent accountable are seen in the ISBE data.  Specifically, the graduation rate, Freshman on track and growth and culture of the district.  Success for me is getting the class sizes DOWN. 35 students per class is criminal. No teacher can be effective with those numbers and no class budget to support their needs. To impact change, we need fair contracts for staff and teachers, re-evaluation of the administrative structure and staff,  a superintendent evaluation and superintendent search protocol established. 

2) How do you make decisions? How do you handle working with others with whom you disagree?

I make decisions for the board based on evidence, data, and projections on impact for the district. We have a very hostile environment on our board where if you request any evidence, data, or explanation on topics that you have not been informed on then this is considered a racial attack. it is a technique utilized by this administration to deter any pushback from any decisions or direction that he may want.  Evidence based decision allow us to have transparency, goals set to best serve our community and align our vision and direction to the values of the district and community.  Every perspective brings value, every lived experience brings value and listening to collaborate is important, as well as providing opportunity  for others to speak without interruption.  When we are committed to creating a safe and secure working environment where all board members get the same communication without harassment, without threats, without physical threats to their safety, then we are all in a much better place.

As a loud proud Colombian immigrant, and culturally diverse, I can be misunderstood. Passion for an issue is perceived as anger, and  this can create misunderstandings. Those cultural differences do not receive a lot of tolerance and continually challenge me. Yet I am committed to working with every board member, we do not have to be best friends, but we must be able to collaborate respectfully and accomplish the work of the board. 

The biggest issue for other board members is that I ask questions.  I have asked questions for a specific reason; questioning brings us critical thinking which could establish a proactive board addressing issues of upmost concern to the larger community. This is not divisive. This is specifically the role of a board member. 

Asking questions is not the problem, the questions I ask are intended to bring growth and information to the community. I cannot understand how asking questions to the superintendent and the board are considered harassment, or divisive. Yet that is what it has been deemed.   Does this mean that any time we ask a question that does not align with the majority or certain board members we are the enemy?  It does take a lone voice that will not yield inequities. It happened to teachers that were unjustly suspended for speaking up. It happened to students who were suspended for speaking up at a board meeting against the Acts of the Superintendent.   

As Dr. Martin Luther King taught all of us, a leader of all people, when fighting for civil rights in the face of oppression, ignorance and violence, Dr. King never chose fear. He always chose courage and determination. He refused to allow prison, violence, and the threat of death to sway his mission. Instead, he stood firm on his goal of achieving rights for all through nonviolent protest and the power of his voice.

If we are true advocates for the community, we should be willing to stand alone even if we have a different opinion than our colleagues. I was not voted in to agree with certain board members or to align with a certain race. I challenge systematic racial bias because I was elected as a voice for the whole community.  Community members that voted in to ensure transparency and equitable  transformative education initiatives.  I am a voice to those that never had one, and mostly I stand firm on integrity.   This is where I am concerned,  none of my questions make me an enemy to this board, or divisive. It makes me an advocate for  our families, students, teachers, faculty, and staff, I leave you with this thought “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” — Dr Martin Luther King Jr

3) How will you work to ensure that District 209 provides an excellent educational experience for all its students?

I suggest we start with and Equity study  such as the one that was accomplished during the 2019-2020 school year.  The SASI Committee of the Board of Education led
an equity study to better understand issues related to equity and access within the
district. It enlisted the help of the Public Consulting Group (PCG) to produce an equity 
snapshot based on several sources of data related to student and school characteristics
including data provided by PTHS staff, data available through the Illinois State Board of
Education website including school and district report card data, and survey data
collected from students and staff.

The study presented findings in six areas:

• Student/school characteristics

• Access to high-quality programming and high-quality educators

• Distribution of funding and resources

• Disciplinary procedures and distribution

• Student achievement

• School culture and climate

I would like to see access to mental health services added to this list. All of these areas need to be evaluated, studied, and set forth as priorities for our District by the board.  When we promote an inclusive climate that fosters positive relationships and treat every student’s diversity as an asset, we improve restorative disciplinary practices then we really .  Increase access to high quality, culturally relevant curriculum, because our students become engaged.  The next step is to ensure that we have a clear path so that the board is in touch with student voice, leadership and engagement in decision making.

4) How would you approach the budgeting process? What is the per student spending on curriculum at Proviso now? What is recommended for best practices for the average student at District 209? How does that spending vary by school (East, West, PMSA)?

The board is not involved in the budget process, we are given a budget and can prioritize initiatives that are put into the budget or help direct the focus for the budget. But the board approves the final work supervised and directed by the Superintendent and the administrative staff.

There could be a committee, Finance committee returned to help steer that direction, It was effective in the past and I believe necessary. If the Board continuously assess the districts data and each school’s overall performance in terms of both academic success and equity, the budget and spending can be steered in a different direction.  This includes, without limitation, a thorough analysis of ISBE’s balanced accountability measure and each school’s Multiple Measure Indexes. This also needs to be aligned with corresponding Annual Measurable Objective provided by ISBE to best assess our Board direction and have the administration determine an evidence-based assessment rubric for best practices for the average Student in D209. 

These Metrics were consistently worked on, focused, and analyzed in committees of the board, namely the Student Advancement and Student innovation committee, not in the work of the body of the whole. The committees brought work forward to have a better impact and split up each board members specialty. The Board continuously monitors student achievement and the quality of the district’s work. The Superintendent is supposed  to supervise and  follow the quality assurance components, in accordance with State law and ISBE rules, and continuously keep the Board Informed. 

Our sitting Superintendent has tilted these metrics for the district making it more complex to be able to clearly decipher the state of the students. Clear issues are the lack of an attendance policy, the  50% policy that obligates teachers to no give any grade below 50%. This has changed the data. Mr. Henderson’s focus is on how many “F” grades there are, versus student growth, freshman on track, Graduation rate and ISBE state metrics. His Policies and data focus are not commonly used,  because research shows that they are ineffective ways of determining the state of the district. 

As far as School spending, East is the high school that the largest portion of investment has been placed on.   Second , West and PMSA is the school that has had the least amount of investment. That focus needs to be addressed and revised for equitable purposes.

5) What would you say to voters who are worried about the tax burden?

VOTE!  We have been presented with a bond proposal with a high interest rate that could impact the district for the next 20 years. If this does go through, then we will have 40 million plus to pay back just in interest. this initiative will raise taxes significantly over the next few years, it has no community input and huge impact to every taxpayer. To get bonds,  we must have a capital plan and budget attached to them. The district has none, just some thoughts. 

Vote! If the H5 majority  continue to lead initiative after initiative  on the board, they will  leave our district without crucial services,  financial ability to address any maintenance or need we may have over the next 20 years and in debt!  Vote!

6) Special education is mandated by federal law. Recently, District 209 pulled out of its relationship with the Proviso Area for Exceptional Children (PAEC) consortium, to in-house services. How have you tracked the results of that move, and how can District 209 better work to provide an excellent education for students in need of special education?

D209 has not pulled out of PAEC. there was a proposal, but it has not occurred. There has been no communication to PAEC informing them of the interest in providing services themselves.  D209 is  required to give 18 months’ notice of intent to discontinue membership of a cooperative if we had any intent. this has not happened yet. WE do more inhouse services, which from my understanding ISBE  has been to the district to oversee the violations that have been reported. More specifically ISBE has given the Superintendent notice to remedy the violations.  D209 has had to have the attorney sit in on several of the IEP meetings. IEP meetings were not scheduled at the beginning of the year, nor were teachers given the access to ensure that needs of our Special Ed Students and families could addressed in time. 

7) Since the 1960s, Proviso high schools have had a tense relationship with the communities that it services, arguably due to issues related to race and class. How do you propose to better educate all community members and ensure they support our public high schools?

I think the silent giant is that ethnic diversity is not embraced specifically in D209.  If any initiative or need is ever spoken about that is specifically geared to the assistance of Latinos, immediately intolerance rises.  Latinos feel left out, often feel humiliated about bringing up crucial issues for the well-being of their children. Some parents are fierce advocates and are now getting more involved!   We need to address the needs of all children. But no one community wants to take over the District. Parents want voice and choice.  All children are not having their needs met. The current Ell program is out of compliance, and many of the needed programs are not funded.  With over 30% of parents not able to speak English the board meetings have not translation services.  that impacts all of us, and those needs are not being funded. 

The now 62% Latino community that has moved into our District brings upon us other new issues. Having access to language translations in meetings and in forums such as these where their participation is minimal, due to the language barrier need to be addressed. Many families came to this country for opportunity and for education. 

Our Highschool needs help with welcoming. When the community comes to the board meeting the current majority board president and the past refuse translation services, shut down the meeting if they are criticized or if the need with something they do not want to hear, and limit the publics and the teacher’s voice. 

The way to engage the larger community is to address the needs! We need town halls, we need committees, we need to be welcoming in our schools and we need to be one proviso again.  Where all stake holders are included in public decisions.

8) How do you define equity? Have recent events and discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking?

The term “equity” refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality: Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances.

Let us start by addressing that inequity is a form of violence, and violence is a disease, and there is a cure. Compassion. And Compassion is having the capacity to embrace another’s pain, embrace another story, having the grit and creativity to cultivate the needs of our community that comes alongside with hard work, transparency, and the ability to listen and find solutions to deficits for each community we serve as board members.

I was elected as an advocate for the voiceless as the first Latina woman ever elected to this board. A community that acknowledges that everything we thought was true, was just a story born out of the halls of power.  One that must be reimagined through transformation in education. That is true to every child black and brown in the United States.  And a mission we had embarked on as a board.

What is the work we must do in this board now, when the president of the board feels entitled to attack a board member, utilizing slander of colleagues in the paper, and the intent to silence a difference in opinion?  When the abuse of power is such that they have felt entitled to criticize the Media because the H5  narrative does not align with the facts being presented in the board meeting from the public, the teachers and the students? This type of bombastic violent verbiage aligns us and our work with the lack of professionalism, integrity and transparency that has been the hallmark of dictators. It is clearly motivated by racial and ethnic discrimination and silencing any opponents. That is alarming.

“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” – Mahatma Gandhi

What is the work of the board,  when the president abuses power and enshrines not questioning the Superintendent when considerable changes have been established that are to the detriment of the students, teachers’ staff and administration during a pandemic, throughout the current school year,  when students do not have adequate transportation, class schedules or adequate food not to mention enough teachers to teach the necessary classes need for graduation, this community should be outraged.  The board president and the Superintendent can barely acknowledge the science that could keep  our community safe, or that data that bares the truth of the state of the district.

What is the work of the board when a Superintendent does not inform all board members that we have cases of Covid in our staff, our administration and teaching staff? He is charged with keeping us safe, Covid cases that destroy lives, lives we were elected to protect? 

What is the work of the board when we looked for a transformational leader for our district that inspires employees to strive beyond required expectations to work toward a shared vision especially during the Pandemic that plagued our community? Covid was a eye opener, violence in our schools is not addressed when it happens, not addressing health properly is a form of violence.  

For the District to address equity we need an aggressive and focused commitment to professional development and learning to demonstrate a willingness to commit resources to advancing equitable practices. That has not been a focus up till now, I am committed to advancing that. 

9) Proviso has recently re-invested in its career and technical education curriculum (auto shop, culinary lab, etc.). How can Proviso ensure its investments in these programs are successful and balanced with the needs of students pursuing a career in trade vs those who wish to pursue higher academics?

Career pathways counselors, outreach to the business and industry in our community are so important. there are diverse learners in our community and there should be extensive commitment to career pathways focused on the trades that align with a technical, trade or university pathway to provide choice for our kids.   Our board needs to fund the programs  we have so that they can provide the experience we set out to provide.   The required materials and texts books  have to be available from the beginning of the year, and available to have the teachers run the class!

IB provides that alignment option, we only have some of the pathways in our District but there are many more offered at other schools nationally and internationally that we should be looking to study and implement further.  or perhaps partnerships in the district that could amplify the opportunity that more student need as diverse learners come into our district. If that looks like a bilingual option for high school, or  further Technology opportunities we need to grow educational opportunities for all families, all student learning styles and interests for our future economic growth in Proviso. I support all initiatives that address student need in the district and giving students and families a choice to get their needs met. 

10) A student organization, “Students for a Better Proviso”, has raised concerns about conditions in the school - including a teacher shortage that could impact the ability of students to graduate, overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating buildings, etc. Would you establish lines of communication with students who have concerns and address their concerns? And if so, how would you address their concerns?   

I personally have called many of the students, talked with their parents and have addressed the board for them or by their side when they have come out to protest and hear them. I am in constant  contact with these students who have seen that I am willing to help their voice. These students are courageous, informed and have very supportive families.  Our district and this generation has changed, they want to be active, they want to be heard and are unapologetically honest and inclusive. I really admire “Student for a Better Proviso” for their art, their voice and the change they seek for our community at large.  

11) The School Board’s primary responsibility is oversight of the Superintendent. What criteria will you use to evaluate the success of District 209 Superintendent James Henderson?

We have a clearly delineated contract with specific goals and measures. It has not been utilized up till now and needs to be implemented immediately. It addresses following policy, the Superintendents contractual goals, and his ability to reach and work with the greater community. In my personal opinion, he has failed at all counts. 

What wee have seen  is transactional leadership focusing more on extrinsic motivation for the performance of specific job tasks.   Three specific characteristics should be sought by this board:  Collaboration, Trust, and Learning.   is he focused on that for all? 

I find the hostile words utilized by this Superintendent are used to Force teachers back into our buildings, quiet them if they are challenging his false narrative, quieted, or fired,  if any employee is outspoken for student rights, advocates for justice and equity, and champions for a fair contract or to silence board members that do not agree with him.  These actions in our community are seen as aggression not leading. Where is the Empathy or the leadership?  Where is the District growth and improvement? I believe we can do better. 

12) As elected public officials, school board members have fiduciary responsibility to the school district and have an obligation to provide financial oversight and accountability. Superintendent Henderson has been asked to repay $91,000 in alleged improper spending to his previous district in Mississippi, which is now under state financial oversight; an audit found material weaknesses in internal financial controls. Please discuss District 209’s internal financial controls. What (if any) structural changes need to be made in order to guarantee District 209’s fiscal soundness and integrity?

As long as the Superintendent continues to fire, hire, fire, hire and leave incompetent , underqualified  or special contract friends in change of our finances, we have no controls. The Henderson five have given him free reign, no investigations to the Holms County audit, investigations, and the takeover of his previous district by the state due to state’s calls for a takeover of the district following the release of a nearly 400-page investigative audit of the district that found it in violation of 81% of the state’s accreditation standards.  The audit identified violations of state and federal law, including nearly $1 million of questioned federal expenditures. Unfortunately, our board majority has dismissed the report and my calls for a deep investigation have not brought four votes to investigate and hold the Superintendent  accountable to District policy 3:40 which states that the Superintendent should be of unquestionable integrity. 

There is no body that oversees the Board. Only voters.  Vote for those that keep him accountable. 

13) District 209 has had a contentious relationship with its teachers and is facing a shortage of teachers exacerbated by a nationwide shortage of teachers. Please discuss how the district could bring more teachers, proficient in working with students from a wide array of backgrounds, into the classroom.

I believe the Superintendent is the number one cause for teachers leaving the district. He has maintained a hostile work environment; teachers are afraid for their job and their students.   With the current hostility there are many champion teachers that reside in our community that I am proud of and have put everything on the line to stand up against the injustices occurring now.  

To change this current teaching shortage and address all the learners in our community we need to plan with purpose, cultivate a learning climate and instruct and hire with intention. I hope to lead a 95% teacher retention initiative, with fair contracts and incentives to support teachers and learning. Otherwise, we will continue to see a hemorrhaging of valuable educators and continue to have a vacuum for necessary positions in a time of teacher shortages. 

14) There has been a lot of discussion locally and nationally about the presence of police in school buildings. What is your vision for a safe school environment? How do police officers in the schools relate to that vision.

Every community perceives it differently. Some see it as safety, some see it as a pathway to prison and others are terrified of a police presence all together.   Some parents  will not even approach the schools because of the police presence. Safety is paramount to a good learning environment. But there are many ways of achieving safe schools with out police. 
Security needs to be doubled.  If we retrained in CPI for de-escalation techniques that support the students with humane and gently de-escalation students benefit. Many of our security are community members that also coaches or are active in youth programs. Kids relate to them and see them as friends. 

Part of security and safety is impacted by the choice Dr. Henderson made of getting rid of deans. Deans helped with discipline, emotional support, academic pathways, and mental health resources.  We need them back.

I believe there is a need for increased mental health support for our students, staff and community.  Some students who can also act out due to lack of resources to address basic mental health needs. 

15) What lessons learned from the pandemic’s early years do you believe will continue to be applicable to the ways that schools operate?

Science is necessary.  Leaders that understand science, compassion, planning, and community outreach change the direction of a community. The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted education for all students but has hit students from vulnerable and systemically neglected populations hardest. Beyond interruptions to instruction, we faced we saw many other impacts in mental health, depression and anxiety. In proviso many of our students face food insecurity, unreliable access to remote learning technology and although we tried to address it, not all students were addressed.  We tried but were not always successful since some of our populations struggled with  access to student supports, education services with a new responsibility of full-time work, care for siblings, and housing uncertainty. Racial inequities caused by long-standing inequities and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic caused further stress and anxiety for students of color and exposed some of the additional daily challenges they face. but we did not have a roll out plan to bring them back.  We had a lot of chaos in our schools coming back and since then. Teachers were forced to go into the classrooms during uncertain health conditions, many felt at risk and unsupported.   still at the for front of their daily experience. 

To operate with integrity, we needed a roll out plan, not an improvisation. For the Future there needs to be a social emotional engagement with families, students, and staff to address the needs and the supports to do things with excellence. Opportunities for communication and learning, to adjust to the needs of the students and teachers, instructional supports, and re-evaluations,  to best support teaching and learning culture and compassion. 

We need  to create and sustain a regular feedback loop to get input that can support and enhance the way we make choices that will impact the community at large. 

16) Public schools have been faced with deciding whether or not to remove books from their shelves if a parent or group of parents deem the content to be inappropriate, too
controversial or objectionable. How would you handle this issue and how should District 209 handle this question?

At the high school level critical thinking is paramount to our ability to function as a society in the future. I am not a proponent of prohibiting books, learning or integration. We learn from our histories how not to make mistakes. As a majority black and brown community in Proviso, our faults, and our gifts are what make us unique. we are the birthplace of the rainbow coalition with one of my personal heroes, Fred Hampton a Proviso graduate.  To learn about each other, integrate it, and support better pathways is how we become united, and are impacting a new future of our student’s future. 

17) Do you see a role for the Board in ensuring that the climate at District 209 schools is welcoming to students in minority populations, whether racial, religious identity, LGBTQ, etc.? How are the schools assessing the experience of students now? What specific actions or policies would you propose?

We need to build an equity taxonomy. Each level of this program needs to be a foundation for the next step above.  This will inform us form the core of our district all the way up to the leader’s role,  in assuring that we as a district are committed to building and addressing every community’s concern. Another Equity study can really benefit us! 

If we introduce restorative practices  to help us to learn we can make meaningful reparations where is needed  and I believe we need it.  

D209 needs physical integration. That means coteaching with SPED where possible, and with  ELL.  NO more transitional English! The fact that we operate out of compliance is unacceptable.

Social emotional engagement for students, all staff,  leadership and the larger community. This makes us all culturally competent. Outreach would provide us with opportunities to learn what we need.

Looking at instructional excellence. What supports are needed by our teachers. They can help identify and have buy in to any program. How? Committees to the board that specifically target real Equity. Committees that are made up of students, parents, and teachers, to best educate and inform the board. Remember the community is who we represent.  We need to be effective together. 

18) A new report issued by the Centers of Disease and Control found that in 2021, very large numbers of students experienced poor mental health. Twenty-two percent of students seriously considered attempting suicide and ten percent attempted suicide. Our District has had many tragic losses in the past few years to suicide. These feelings were found to be more common among LGBTQ+ students, female students, and students across racial and ethnic groups. What can D209 do to address this trend?

We need an integrated approach to address all these. Social workers, Deans, Advocates, more security, mental health allocations for specialists in each building, health services on all campuses , immigration services, Translations services  on all campuses and a tiered equitable approach to address the needs of all our populations in our District.

19) In 2015, sitting board members were challenged because they sat on the Board while not personally, sending their high school age children to D209 schools. Where do you stand on a person sitting on a Board of Education but not sending their own kids to that school, especially during the term, they are seeking election for?

Different board members have different situations, ages, marital status, and family situations. Some people on the board and candidates that are running have school age children, no children at all or are the age of grandparents. Whatever personal situation  a person running has, is not what determines community dedication, policy initiatives,  advocacy, support, or ability . All voters should look at experience, involvement in the community, advocacy and what have the supported to determine whether their track record benefitted the community or not. 

20) For those who are currently serving or have previously served on the school board: What vote are you most proud of, and what vote do you most regret? Why?

My vote for Dr. Rodriguez coming as Superintendent. He brought One Proviso, transformational leadership, inclusion, equity, the master’s facility plan, cost analysis and integration of all communities. We really became One Proviso. We can bring that type of progress back.