Julie Hill: 2023 candidate for Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41 board

Bio

Town: Glen Ellyn

Age on Election Day: 44

Occupation: Former teacher

Employer: None

Previous offices held: District 41 board since 2019

Q&A

Q: Why are you running for this office, whether for reelection or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

A: I am running to continue to support the goals outlined in our newly adopted strategic plan. The focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion means that efforts to close achievement and opportunity gaps persist and expand. Part of that effort is supporting high quality early childhood education. Research has long shown the life-changing effects for at-risk children in high quality programs. District 41's focus will be building to create space for and implementing a full-day kindergarten, which is already available at 90% of DuPage County districts.

Q: What is the role of the school board in setting and monitoring curriculum?

A: The administration is responsible for assessing and recommending curriculum. After their research and review, they implement a pilot program within the schools. If they find the new curriculum to be successful, they recommend its purchase and adoption to the board. At that point, the board is responsible for approving the purchase, ensuring it is within budget. The board monitors district performance through district-wide data points like MAP scores, IAR scores, and the Academic Updates provided by the assistant superintendent for teaching, learning, and accountability.

Q: Are there curriculum issues within the district that you feel need particular attention from the board?

A: District 41 is currently undergoing a pilot for a new math curriculum. If the administration decides to adopt it, the board will vote to approve the purchase or not. On plan for 2022-2023 school year is a comprehensive review of the language arts curriculum, with a possible pilot in 2023-24. When the administration decides their course of action, it will come to the board as necessary for purchase approval.

Q: How do you view your role in confronting policy or curriculum controversies: provide leadership even if unpopular, give a voice to constituents - even ones with whom you disagree, or defer to state authorities?

A: The vast majority of our policy changes originates from state laws in the form of Illinois School Code. Our district and we as board members - and citizens - are obligated to follow the laws of the United States and the state of Illinois. In fact, it is in our oath, taken when we joined the board of education. On occasion when policy changes are not mandated by law, I take the advice of the legal, financial, and educational experts the district employs.

Q: Concerns are growing regarding a new resurgence of the pandemic. If another massive outbreak of infectious disease occurs, what have we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that will guide your decision making?

A: We are almost three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, and behavior is largely back to normal for most people. We are going to school all day, without masks, from August to June. We have learned a lot about living through a pandemic, and specifically about living with COVID-19. We have the tools to detect its presence, slow its spread, and reduce illness and death. To give our students and staff the best chance of health and safety, we respected the experts, the evidence, and the information they brought us, and we did what they advised. We consulted with infectious disease doctors, virologists, public health experts, test designers and distributors, and educational leaders to determine the best courses of action in a difficult era. If, by awful chance, we stumble into another pandemic in the next four years, I will follow the advice of relevant experts then, too.

Q: Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach agreement and manage school district policy? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions of your school board.

A: Information informs my opinion. Therefore, I am open to healthy debate and discussion because listening to other people might offer me information or perspective I didn't have before. At the end, my decision will be informed by experts and evidence, and in favor of what is best for the district and the children and families it serves.

Q: What makes you the best candidate for the job?

A: I am a parent, an advocate, and a former educator. I know that parents are the experts of their children, and that teachers and educational leaders are the experts in education. As a board member, my job is to respect the experts, the evidence, and the information they bring us. When community input is needed, our values should reflect the community, which was evident in creating a new strategic plan, our district's guiding document. I have voted to protect our educational investment in order to continue and expand the opportunities District 41 offers the children and families we serve.

In fact, on behalf of the D41 board of education, I have authored letters to legislators and resolutions for the Illinois Association of School Boards to increase school funding for multiple purposes including COVID mitigation costs, early childhood education expansion, and capital funding to build and repair schools.

Q: What's one good idea you have to better your district that no one is talking about yet?

A: I would love to see more emphasis in our schools on media literacy. With ubiquitous social media use, sharing articles and quotes to large audiences is easier than ever. Therefore, it is imperative that our students understand which sources they can trust, and which are propaganda or misinformation. They need to know and frequently use tactics to determine the validity of a source so they can make good decisions based in fact.