John S. Bishof III: 2025 candidate for Elmhurst Unit District 205 board

Bio

Office Sought: Elmhurst Unit District 205 board (Vote for 3)

City: Elmhurst

Age: 45

Occupation: Stay-at-home dad

Previous offices held: Edison PTA President

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

I’m running for office because volunteer work is what I do. Since becoming a stay-at-home dad in 2014, I’ve volunteered for the PTA as a treasurer, web administrator, and a past president. I’ve coached soccer, baseball, football, and wrestling.

When special interest groups began harassing and pressuring our District 205 school board and our teachers, I decided that I needed to volunteer for my kids’ sake and the sake of all of our district’s students. I want to be a strong advocate for our students and teachers.

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

The school board approves the curriculum set by our superintendent. We should actively make certain that our curriculum is rigorous, effective, factual and inclusive. Monitoring grades and test scores is how we know if we are on the right track.

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

Our test scores have been going up in grades K-8. Now kids with four years of our current curriculum are starting to get into high school. We need to closely monitor test scores at the high school level to make certain those gains are trickling up. If we fail to see improvement at the high school level, then we will need to reassess the curriculum.

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?

Policy is largely determined at the state level and there isn’t much a school board can do besides give a voice to constituents when policy is the source of controversy.

For curriculum controversies, I’m going to consider every constituents opinion. However, I’m always going to side with facts even when unpopular. Our curriculum needs to be rigorous, effective, factual, and inclusive.

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.

My style is to listen, determine importance, and work to find a solution that everyone can live with, while focusing on how it benefits our students.

I believe if we as a board put our students first, decisions will be much easier to make. I’m not running for school board for me, I understand that this is for the betterment of an entire town's students. I’m going to focus on supporting our students and our teachers whenever making decisions.

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.

We live in a diverse world. Elmhurst may not be as diverse as other towns, but that doesn't mean diversity, equity, and inclusion isn't important.

When it comes to kids, it's even more important to teach to and have diversity and equity programming. We want to raise intelligent and caring young adults.

As our kids leave our district and enter either the workforce or college, they will encounter people from all walks of life that have had considerably different experiences to their own. Kindness and inclusivity is a lesson that cannot be diminished.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

As both a parent with kids enrolled currently and a District 205 graduate myself (Jackson, Bryan, and York), I'm able to compare experiences that current students are experiencing with those of my own.

Having felt that District 205 provided me with an excellent education and preparation for college, I'm going to hold our district to very high standards.

Further, during my career in government finance, I've had much experience dealing with large projects fitting into set budgets. I will use my experience with budgeting and finance to aid in taking on projects that benefit our district while keeping within our budget.

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

When I went though District 205 middle school, I was able to participate in electives like orchestra/band/choir, home economics, industrial tech, and foreign language in addition to science, English, history, and math. Now kids in middle school are forced to pick two of the four offerings.

I’d like to work on a change that would allow today’s middle schoolers to participate in foreign language, orchestra/band/choir, and an additional elective in their current school day.