Board members should have kids in school

With the election for Barrington Unit District 220's board of education right around the corner, this could not be a more critical inflection point for our district. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world, and while the central focus of the media has been the rising numbers, the area that has been forgotten is how this pandemic has impacted our children's' education and mental health.

As a two-working-parent home, with five children under the age of nine, we have seen first hand what the whipsaw decisions of our school board has had on our children. Now is the time for fresh voices to rise above the politics and realign the board's priorities to reflect the views of our community and the well-being of our children - academically, socially and emotionally.

Over the last year, I have witnessed fear paralyze an over-tenured group of individuals. While I believe all had the best intentions when they first joined the board, the majority of that board that continually blocked getting our kids back in school succumbed to special interest groups, citing science.

Study after study over the last year has proved that schools were not the "super spreaders" that they once were thought to be.

Today, we have 11 candidates running for four seats on the board, but not every candidate is created equal.

I believe the board needs to have kids in school TODAY, not 10 years ago. And they need to be transparent about their decisions and how they choose to utilize our taxpayer dollars.

For these reasons and more, I will be voting for Katie Karam, Malgorzata McGonigal and Steve Wang for the Barrington Unit District 220 school board.

Victoria Sivrais

Barrington