Steven Neurauter: 2025 candidate for Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89 board

Bio

Office sought: Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89 board (Vote for 4)

City: Glen Ellyn

Age: 47

Occupation: Business strategy and engineering consultant

Previous offices held: District 89 board member since 2021

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

The public school system is the heart of every community and I want to make sure our community remains strong and healthy. I am running to continue working as a District 89 school board member to ensure each and every student feels safe and welcome in our schools. I believe this is the foundation on which children can reach their learning potential.

As recognized by the Illinois Association of School Boards, our board has historically been a fantastic steward of the community’s tax dollars and we focus our decisions on benefiting each and every student. Our efforts have resulted in high student achievement while maintaining a lean budget. I want to maintain this tradition.

I will bring my experience to the board to continue this good work by ensuring our district teachers and staff have what they need to operate in a way that ensures exceptional education for each and every student by providing them with focused, accessible educational and emotional supports in a welcoming environment.

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

The school board’s role in setting and monitoring the curriculum is a multi-step, ongoing process with multiple opportunities to make adjustments. Most elements of this process are periodic but reviewing the curriculum’s impact on students’ achievement is continuous.

Every few years, the board seeks input from a representative set of the district and community to review and adjust its district strategy. The board continuously monitors student performance and identifies areas for improvement, ensuring each student is receiving an accessible, quality education, based on their individual needs.

The board evaluates curriculum changes proposed by the district administration and ensures their recommendations are in line with the goals of the district.

When areas of improvement are required, the board discusses improvement options with the administration at public board meetings. The board also evaluates the cost of curriculum changes and ensures it is affordable in the district budget.

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

Overall, District 89 performs very well and I believe it is because our excellent teachers teach with a robust curriculum and multitiered systems of support. However, the district and the board are working hard to identify ways to reach each student and close achievement gaps. While improvements have been made, it is clear that we are not reaching some students and there is work to do.

It is a pre-K through eighth-grade school district so we set the educational foundation for each student. Research shows that investing in early education not only improves long-term educational outcomes but also drastically reduces costs required to catch those students up in later grades.

Over the past year, I have been working with the other board members and the district to identify how we can provide the community with a more accessible and broader early education program. I believe this will improve our students’ educational performance and save the district money in the long term.

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?

Our District 89 community is diverse so there are a lot of perspectives to consider. I represent this community and people elect me to be the person fighting for their values in the board room. Having met many in my community knocking on doors during the 2018 Operations Referendum and during my 2021 campaign for school board, I know there is a common, good-hearted theme to the community’s values: do what is best for our students.

I brought these values into the board policy committee I served on for two years and I helped the board amend the state-recommended policy based on these values to ensure each and every student was represented.

As board members of a public school district, we have an obligation to ensure each and every student is safe, welcome in our schools, and has the resources they need to achieve their potential, no matter who they are.

I will continue to provide leadership to do what is best for our students, even when outside influences attempt to do the opposite.

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.

It can be tricky to work through policy disagreement in this political climate but it must be done in a respectful and productive way. I focus on what is best for the students, making sure each is considered equally.

I have specific experience with this topic because I served on the district's policy team for two years with another board member who had very different views. During our policy meetings, I found common ground — which was usually a significant majority of the policy. I then identified the parts in which we disagreed so that we could focus on them during public, whole-board policy review. It is important to ensure all opinions are heard.

At the end of the day, each board member vote is just one of seven and majority rules. The board is good at moving forward as a team, even when we did not come to a unanimous decision. There is a lot of work to do as a board member and arguments on a topic or two should not impede the more important role of a strong public education.

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

Our job as leaders in public education is to make sure each and every student has the support they need to realize their learning potential. Public education is the bedrock of every community and without it, our community, state and country suffer. Achievement gaps still exist and that means we are not reaching parts of our student community as well as we should be.

We need to remain focused on the students. Each student has a set of personal needs to achieve their potential and we will continue improving how we satisfy those needs. Our school district will continue using research-based information to help guide how best to guide each student to their potential.

We will also continue to improve our district’s environment so that each student feels safe, welcome, and ready to learn. As a board member, I will help ensure all aspects of district policy, budget, and strategy are focused on an education that focuses on student achievement for each student.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I am involved in the district and community and I have a record of getting things done. Besides being a District 89 school board member since 2021, I also served in the community on several committees and commissions: District 89 Citizens Advisory Council (2017-19); District 89 Finance Committee (2017-18); District 89 Community Engagement Committee (2018); Yes4Our89 Referendum Committee (2018); Village of Glen Ellyn Capital Improvements Commission (2019 to 2022); Park View Watchdog Dad (2016 to present); and helped get a dangerous road/school crossing fixed by working with Glen Ellyn leadership.

I fully believe in public education and its strong influence on the community and culture. I have had four years’ experience as a school board member so I understand what work is involved and what we need to do next. I will continue to fight to protect the community’s values within the district using my experience in and out of the school boardroom.

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

Research shows early education is crucial for learning and can also offset education costs by a multiplying factor in later years. Without a robust early education, achievement potential in later years may never catch up. I think District 89 would benefit from an expanded and more accessible pre-K program.

Over the past year, I have been looking for opportunities to improve our pre-K education program. Specifically, I have been discussing with the district and board members during public meetings how we might be able to implement a more accessible and broader pre-K program.

Recently, the district received a grant to provide more access to potential pre-K learners. I am proud of the work the district has done so far to expand access and I will encourage the district to look for ways to build upon this success