U-46 school board hopefuls discuss bullying in schools

Is Elgin Area School District U-46 doing enough to address bullying in schools adequately? Some school board candidates don't think so.

All the candidates discussed their concerns about the issue at a recent candidate forum.

One-term incumbent Jeanette Ward, a product manager for an international chemical company, believes the district needs to get tougher on discipline, stop differentiating based on race and students' backgrounds and hire teachers who are "stern, but fair."

"You can't have discipline based on social engineering," Ward, 45, of West Chicago, said. "U-46 has a policy to reduce the disproportionate representation of certain groups in expulsions and other discipline measures. When you have that in your policy, then discipline tends to be based on what cultural background you came from instead of the deed that was done. We need to have traditional discipline restored. Children thrive when they understand exactly where the boundaries are."

Ward added there is no substitute for parental involvement.

Ina Silva-Sobolewski, 56, of Hanover Park, a Portuguese translator/interpreter, said among the many forms of bullying is the state requiring all students, including those with limited English proficiency, to take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in English. Standardized tests are a mandate of federal law.

"It's psychologically damaging, humiliating and frustrating to the students who can't speak English," she said. "Fifty-four percent of students in U-46 are Hispanic and they do see this as bullying. The test forces children to take an exam in a language they don't fully understand."

U-46's eight underperforming schools also have high Hispanic populations, she added.

Not all candidates see the situation so bleakly.

Kathleen Thommes, 44, an educator from Elgin, said the district's new bullying hotline has helped students and families report complaints anonymously.

"It triggers automatic investigations and conversations," she said. "Overall, I think we do need to do a few more things to try to address some of the root problems, which can be varied and differ from school to school, even student to student, community to community."

She added, the district's trauma-informed care approach to teaching in dealing with students' affected by adverse childhood experiences is helping address problems early on.

"We need to step back and (see) why are children making these choices," said Thommes, adding, teachers also need extra support. "It's a lot of work to teach some of these students."

Eva Porter, 64, a retired teacher, said education and properly trained teachers, guidance counselors and staff are key to addressing the problem.

"You have to have parental involvement because a lot of things happen outside of school, (such as) cyberbullying," said Porter, of Hanover Park.

She added the district has programs for parents to attend.

"It's not going to solve the problem, but we can certainly try to reduce the percentages of problems that occur," she said.

Daniel Hancock, 68, a retired electrical engineer from Hanover Park, said he has heard of a few cases of bullying reported at local schools, but nothing was done to stop them.

"We probably have to focus on finding ways to make sure that follow-through is done and making sure that bullying stops," he said.

Susan Kerr, 62, of Bartlett, also a one-term incumbent and a retired computer programmer/analyst, said bullying is a problem in school districts nationwide.

"We have a rather detailed student code of conduct and a board policy on bullying," she said. "I'm not sure whether the issue is our policies are not good enough or they are not being implemented in the correct way. We need to figure out why we continue to have a bullying problem."

The nature of bullying also has changed significantly with cellphones and social media, Kerr added.

"I'd like to limit cellphones in schools, but that's not going to solve the problem because things happen after school, as well," she said. "We also need to work with parents and community, and local law enforcement."

Incumbent John Devereux, 52, an actuary appointed to the board last June, said the district's bullying hotline is "a good mechanism for reporting and monitoring" that needs to be publicized more.

"(Bullying) can be addressed through well-trained staff, equipping them with tools to spot and intervene, properly staffing buildings with assistant principals, counselors, SROs (school resource officers), MTSS (Multitiered System of Supports) professionals," said Devereux, of Bartlett. "It's important to have adults in the right places to monitor and to engage with students on a personal level, to address the incidents when they happen, and then, on an ongoing basis."

Schools also should encourage students to be "upstanders" rather than "bystanders," by equipping them with tools to spot and report bullying, and "to be allies" to victims, he added.

Tina Rio, 52, of Bartlett, who works for the airline industry and aligns herself with Ward, Hancock and Silva-Sobolewski, did not participate in the forum. Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.