Rosalinda Delgado: Candidate Profile

Back to West Chicago High School District 94 School Board

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: West ChicagoWebsite: www.rosie4d94.weebly.comTwitter: @Rosie4d94Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RosieDelgadoforD94/Office sought: West Chicago High School District 94 School Board Age: 27Family: SingleOccupation: Site Coordinator Case ManagerEducation: AA SociologyBA Clinical Psychology MS Management and Organizational Behavior (in progress, EGD August, 2018)Civic involvement: CERT (Community Emergency Response Team Member,) West Chicago Cultural Arts Commission, I volunteer for my local church as a Youth Leader, Volunteer for the West Chicago Police Department, Volunteer for New Name (organization working to help rescue women from human trafficking,) Neighborhood Food Pantries Volunteer, DPC Homelessness Prevention Volunteer , SAFE Kids Car Seat Check-Ups Volunteer, and other volunteer involvement.Current member of Prevention Leadership Team, WeGo Together for Kids Neighborhood Resource Center Coalition.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?I am running for D94 Board of Education member because I am a product of D94 and I want to give back. When I was a freshman in high school, I was close to taking many wrong turns. Yet the teachers and administration of D94 helped guide me in the right direction. I would not be where I am now if it were not for their hard work. I am passionate about education and youth. I know students will see themselves in my story. I want them to believe they can one day be leaders in their community as well. My goal is to increase community involvement in our schools and bridge communication gaps among parents, teachers, administration, and our constituents.As an involved citizen, and as a person who loves our community and our students, I believe I will bring a different voice to our Board of Education. I want to see our students reach their full potential. To do so, we need to make sure that programming and policies are comprehensible and in alignment with the needs of our school community. I believe that the work I do and have done in the community has prepared me for serving on the board.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?One of the major challenges we face is that when measuring outcomes and student success, we tend to typically turn to academics and test scores as a final answer. One of the biggest shared challenges among school districts and communities is the inclination to see students as numbers on a scale, when in reality they are more. I believe success needs to be measured in all areas that affect students including a greater emphasis on growth, and Social Emotional Learning. Academic Achievement is extremely important, and students should continue to be challenged academically. However, I would like to see us take a more holistic approach to student success.How big a role do you think the board of education should play in setting the curriculum for students and what ideas do you have for changes to the current curriculum?I believe it is a board of education's role to approve a curriculum that is tailored to our student's needs. The board's role should be to set goals with the superintendent and his team who write to curriculum. The board should then review data from our key stakeholders through periodic check-ins with the superintendent to make sure our policy supports any necessary curriculum changes. It is important to together, consider the trends and changes that may be coming in this new digital era and decide what is best for our students. Our text books and set materials are now competing with so much on-the-minute information that is available via open sources online. I would make sure that our curriculum focuses on the importance of skills like critical thinking, collaboration, innovation and communication. These are critical if we want to see a rise in student success.What budget issues will your district have to confront and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax or fee increases?I admire the emphasis District 94 has placed on fiscal responsibility. It has been evident that even with the amount of funding instability and cuts our state has made to education, our school district has been able to push through and lead in this area. District 94 has achieved a 4.0 perfect fiscal rating from the State Board of Education these past years. I have witnessed the value the District puts on fiscal responsibility, recognizing that many are stakeholders in every financial decision made. Therefore, I will try my best to continue to hold fiscal responsibility as one of my core missions as we advocate for education. Currently, a referendum question has been placed on the ballot and I support this referendum, taking into account that it will bring necessary infrastructure updates to our educational facility and it will provide our students with a more positive learning environment through suggested programing. The current board has gone above and beyond to communicate anticipated changes to the community by hosting community forums and asking community members to participate in community surveys.What role can and should school choice play in your district? If Congress or the state approves a voucher system or other means giving students broader choices among public and private schools, how will that affect your district? What is the appropriate response for the board of education of a public school system?To many, the thought of letting students choose where they attend school with public funding, may sound like a great idea, but there are numerous problems that converge considering the flexibility that private schools have with what they teach and the way they teach it. Many private schools are faith based. I am a person of faith myself, and I have high respect for private schools. However, I do not believe that all taxpayers should pay for faith based education. Taxpayers are and can be of different strong faiths. I believe our local boards of education are just as committed to providing every student with an outstanding education that will prepare each one of our students for lifelong learning, irrespective of socioeconomic status, special needs, race or religion.Instead of being distracted by school choice vouchers, we need to focus our attention on our community's public schools. We should make sure our school leadership has what it needs to make every public school in our community a great school for our children and for the future of our country.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I strongly believe a school board must be open and accessible to parents, staff, students and our community as a whole, encouraging an open dialogue and transparency through different sources. I am fluent in both Spanish and English, and I would like to see increased parent involvement in the district from our bilingual families. I would also like to see increased transparency and communication between feeder districts and District 94. This is important to me because I work with Elementary and Middle School youth. I want to make sure the transition process for all students is simple, for them and for their families. Because of my previous involvement and experience working with our community, I believe I have what it takes to enrich the impact our Board of Education in District 94 can have in our community.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Sonia Sotomayor- raised in the Bronx by her widowed mother and first Hispanic to sit in the U.S. Supreme Court. Her story is inspiring.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?"You don't look at your neighbors plate to see how much he has, look to make sure he has enough." also a Louis C.K quoteIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Worrying less and trusting more.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Social Studies History. I have always had an interest in the complexity of people, groups, and society. So I now work in Social Services.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?...Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense. Never let your praying knees get lazy love like crazy. - Lee Brice