Donna L. Limper: 2025 candidate for Lake Park High School District 108 board

Bio

Office sought: Lake Park High School District 108 board (Vote for 4)

City: Bloomingdale

Age: 65

Occupation: Retired

Previous offices held: None

Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

I highly value public education as a common good, foundational to participatory democracy. It’s a crucial vehicle of opportunity for all students to succeed in an advanced, global economy.

Public school quality also impacts community quality and fosters widespread belonging. The greatest commonality we share is love for our young. Schools are places where neighbors can cooperate across differences to engineer outcomes that enrich our children and our community. Nonpartisan, local control is critical to school board governance.

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

The school board sets the district’s vision and goals, assessing key outcomes like graduation rates while ensuring alignment with state content standards. It does not oversee daily operations but plays a crucial governance role.

Through attending LPHS Board meetings I've had the privilege of listening to Department Curriculum Leaders propose new curriculum offerings and been impressed with their research and rationale. I have a high level of trust in the instructional excellence at Lake Park.

A valuable governance metric to consider is the return on time — recognizing that student time is a limited resource, curriculum and instruction should maximize its impact on academic outcomes.

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

The board articulated an impressive “Portrait of a Graduate” vision for Lake Park High School. The current curriculum and instruction superintendent is working with the teachers to incorporate those core competencies into the curriculum via a matrix. She should be lauded and supported in that effort.

However, by the time a student gets to high school, it’s challenging to remediate learning difficulties for struggling students. LPHS can improve its practice of articulating downward to our fragmented elementary feeder school system to ensure educational consistency and excellence in the early years.

The ISBE recently launched a state Literacy Plan, which incorporates the science of reading. An ISBE Math Plan is in development to address teachers' concerns that the Common Core math curriculum is too broad, making it difficult to cover all topics within a single year. If elected, I would like to hear about K-12 professional development around the implementation of those state plans.

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?

The school board serves as a vital bridge between the community and the school district, conveying citizens’ and parents’ concerns to the administration while also communicating the district’s needs and priorities to the community.

The issue of parents’ rights in public education can be heated, prompting debates over health policy, race, gender, and sexuality. Board members must take all viewpoints into account — students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers — by listening respectfully and understanding positions different from their own.

At the same time, board members must follow and be adept at communicating the rule of law in education. Past training as a Dialogue Circle Facilitator through the Many Young Voices program will help me successfully navigate controversies.

As a former partner in a public relations firm, my communication skills are an asset. Most importantly, a board in touch with community-wide concerns and values will serve the broad public good rather than being overly influenced by special interests.

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

I have worked in special education teams and coordinated with general education teachers to produce academic, social, and emotional gains for students with Individualized Education Plans.

The guiding principle is what’s best for students. When disagreement arises, tabling the discussion to gather more information, particularly in the area of best-practice educational research, can generate better outcomes. Disagreement can be valuable because it plays a vital role in the community’s collective growth. It sharpens our ability to understand multiple perspectives — a skill we want our children to develop. A diverse school board that engages in thoughtful debate and reaches consensus can help to mend a frayed social fabric.

What is your assessment of the school district's diversity and equity efforts? Do you support the continuation or enhancement of such programs, or would you rather see them diminished. Please explain your reasoning.

Cultural respect and inclusion are essential in both the classroom and our broader community. As a reflection of our diverse society, Lake Park High School brings together students of different ethnicities, socioeconomic classes, religions, reading levels, athletic abilities, and perspectives. These differences enrich students’ academic, personal, and social development. Research shows that exposure to diversity alters the way we think by promoting creativity, innovation, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Schools with equity provide better resources for students’ varied needs, enabling all children to maximize their potential. A sense of belonging increases participation in class discussions and extracurricular activities for more holistic development. Importantly, diversity and equity efforts spread compassionate habits of hearts and minds.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I bring a unique combination of skills from the fields of business and education. I have undergraduate and master’s degrees in marketing, finance, and business policy from the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, respectively. My professional business skills encompass financial analysis, marketing, public relations, and fundraising. I have a second master’s in education with a special education endorsement, plus 20 years of front-line educational service.

As a result, I’m comfortable using educational data and research to guide decision-making. That combination of business and education expertise would allow me to provide governance focused on fiscal stewardship and academic achievement.

In addition, I've been an active education and career development volunteer serving on Parent Advisory Councils, organizing middle school career days, and providing resume writing and interview preparation instruction at Jobs for Youth.

My background has prepared me to maximize the impact of every education tax dollar, ensuring our high school delivers the highest quality education while being fiscally responsible.

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

I believe a “Birth to Age 18 Communitywide Education Plan” would leverage the latest neuroscience to improve long-term educational outcomes. The brain is most plastic between ages 0-5, making early intervention essential.

Existing models, such as District U-46’s Elgin Partnership for Early Learning and District 93’s Birth to Five Community Coalition, recognize the importance of preparing young children for kindergarten and beyond. We could expand the DuPage ROE’s Parents as Teachers 0-3 initiative to serve at-risk families in all LPHS feeder districts. Additionally, asking pediatricians to share research-backed strategies — such as singing, reading, and rhyming with infants — would lay down the neural networks for future language skills.

In Canada, pediatricians share that kind of information with all new parents. By partnering with Illinois’ new consolidated early childhood agency, local chambers of commerce, mental health boards, nonprofits, pediatricians, and faith communities, the school board can play a vital role in recruiting greater resources and volunteerism toward children young and old to create a seamless, high-quality education system from birth to graduation.