Glen Ellyn District 41 candidates debate district responsiveness

The lone incumbent in Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41's school board race, Erica Nelson, says she makes it a habit to respond to residents' questions that come her way, a process that sometimes involves forwarding constituents' concerns to other district sources.

"Sometimes people ask questions ... where you don't get an answer that maybe you would want or are looking for," Nelson said. "That doesn't mean that you haven't been heard or it is not taken into account. It is."

But some of the six other candidates vying for three open spots on the board say the district doesn't have a good track record when it comes to addressing residents' concerns and opinions.

In addition to Nelson, the field in the April 7 election features Kurt Buchholz. Stephanie Clark, Jeff Cooper, Kristin Massey, Kevin Rath and Lori Taylor. Buchholz, Clark and Rath are running as a slate.

While some of the candidates believe the district is doing a good job in community outreach, others say its efforts are coming up short.

Cooper said the administration and the board are not great listeners.

"I feel there is an overall issue, especially with the board, that they really don't seem to be interested in hearing the public's opinions or acting on the public's opinions," he said.

Clark said board members "make it seem" like they're listening, but she's not sure they're taking what the public says to heart.

"When your constituents - the taxpaying community, the teachers within the community - when you start to hear things from them and feedback from them questioning some of the things that are happening in our district, that's where I feel like that's when the board's job comes in to represent the constituents and ask the questions," Clark said. "And that's where I feel we've fallen short in the past couple of years."

Clark said the board's role has become more about defending its decisions than delving into residents' questions.

She said some possible fixes include having public participation at the end of meetings, video recording or live-streaming board meetings, and having board members engage with the public whenever possible.

"I've had friends and parents from other schools come to meetings and they say the same thing, they're like ... 'Did they even hear me? Do I get any feedback? I never get any follow-up to anything I ask,'" Clark said.

In some respects, Rath said, the board keeps the community at "arm's length."

Last year, he said, district officials heard parents out when it came to discussing technology, but some parents didn't see their input reflected in the final product.

The board and administration have taken steps to address such concerns. Last November, Superintendent Paul Gordon and Chief Communications Officer Erika Krehbiel presented a community engagement plan to the board. Some of those initiatives already have been implemented.

In the past several months, the district has hosted a "state of the district" address, town-hall meetings, topic-based listening sessions and "coffee and conversation" events with board members.

"I think the level of communication with board members being engaged with the district ... has increased substantially," Nelson said. "Whether people take advantage of those is up to them."

Buchholz said he is not convinced the outreach efforts are driven by pure intentions.

"I'm suspect of much of it because I think some of it was just kind of designed to say that we were doing this to kind of get some of the public off their back," Buchholz said.

But other candidates paint a brighter picture about the district's responsiveness.

Massey said she has a strong relationship with the administration and board because of her extensive involvement with the district. She said she has good working relationships with current board members and they're responsive to her questions.

"I do think the board and our superintendent do listen," Massey said. "It's just when it's not your opinion, it doesn't seem that way."

Taylor said the district needs to better communicate with the public, and she proposed doing a town hall where people could call in and ask questions.

Overall, though, she said the district is responsive to stakeholders as reflected by its recent decision to delay expansion of its multi-age program.

"I think sometimes people confuse responsive with doing exactly as I say," Taylor said. "Oftentimes people think you're not responsive if you don't do what I ask you to do."