Oak Grove District 68 candidates look beyond building projects
Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify that Agata Karpowicz lived in Poland and Germany before coming to the U.S.
With a $14 million building renovation complete and a search underway to replace retiring Superintendent Lonny Lemon, what's most important going forward for Oak Grove Elementary District 68?
The four candidates running for three 4-year seats on the school board of discussed the Green Oaks-based district's future and top issues in interviews and questionnaires. The candidates are incumbents Amy Frantz and Anthony "Tony" Giamis, both seeking second terms, and newcomers Agata Karpowicz and Raabia Khan.
The one-school district should turn its attention to student growth, said Karpowicz, an attorney who moved into the district two years ago and has kids in kindergarten and second grade.
"I would like to see maybe a discussion about what do we give to these kids so they can go above and beyond not just into high school or maybe college, but the world, to the globe," said Karpowicz, who lived in Poland and Germany before coming to the U.S.
Adding language classes, if possible, could provide students with a broad scope of the world, she added.
"We should focus on giving them a really solid foundation," she said.
Giamis said District 68 has the "most modern of schools right now," but capital investment is ongoing and building considerations continue even as the board focuses on curriculum or grading changes on the advice of the administration and teachers.
"These are going on at the same time. Sometimes in a cycle it's capital (projects) other times it's internal, academic and program changes and that's where we are right now - program, academic changes while the smaller capital needs are being met," said Giamis, a scientist who serves as the school board president.
Frantz, an elementary teacher in Aptakisic-Tripp Elementary District 102, said finding a visionary leader to replace Lemon after the 2020-21 school year is important. A member of the board's facilities committee, Frantz said developing a long-range capital plan was a "huge job" but with that in place, staff development should become more of a priority given anticipated turnover and standards-based grading changes.
"As we develop staff, the social emotional learning needs of kids is really changing very rapidly," Frantz said.
Khan, a former Montessori teacher and stay-at-home mom, has four kids in Oak Grove. She said attracting the best educators to offset teacher retirement and increasing enrollment, which could impact class sizes, are key issues for District 68.
The school board needs to bolster the district's mentorship program for new teachers and prioritize hiring in the budget to get the best candidates, she said.
"We are a good school, an amazing school. But how do we become that school that other districts all around are looking at and saying 'How do we become like Oak Grove?'" she asked.
With building needs addressed, the district should focus on the professional development of teachers, she added.
"For a long time Oak Grove's heart has been the teachers," she said. "It's the teachers that make that building great."