Kids deserve strong leaders in District 25

Please make it a priority to vote in our important election this year and consider Gina Faso, Rich Olejniczak, Katie Rausch and Todd Witherow as the strong voices of leadership that our board of education needs.

I am a parent with four children in Arlington Heights Elementary District 25, so my support is a significant endorsement I take seriously. These candidates each have unique qualifications and are united in a mission to make D25 truly worthy of distinction as a destination district.

During this school year, Olejniczak and Faso voted for safety-mitigated, data-supported open schools, and consistently fought to keep them open with the most recent medical studies. Faso was hand-selected to her seat by the current board out of many who applied. Rausch and Witherow supported teachers and families throughout the year with positive, concrete contributions brought forth to the board as parents and professionals.

The four candidates have impressive records of service and diverse career experience. Their brave, insistent logic applied in the face of fear and misconceptions made these four individuals stand out in the chaos of this school year, and their leadership goals extend well beyond the pandemic crisis.

Without the premise that public schools are far too important to ever have closed, then no other educational goals are relevant. Many initiatives they support, such as full-day kindergarten and enriching special education opportunities, can only be achieved with open schools. Fully servicing public schools are the very pillars that hold up any educational reforms, the values of our homes, and our status as a desirable community overall.

Leah Ross

Arlington Heights