What's important for Mundelein District 75? Candidates weigh in

In Mundelein Elementary School District 75's first contested election since 2003, seven candidates are running for three school board seats.

The field includes incumbents Alexandria Avila, Fred Goldman and Matthew Rehm, and newcomers Elisa Camp, Lisa St. Clair, Kristie Cary Fingerhut and Jessica Neyzelman.

Candidates in interviews and Daily Herald questionnaires discussed why they are running and what they sees as the important issues.

"I viewed it as a natural extension of the 15 years I've already spent volunteering and collaborating in both the both Mundelein districts at the elementary and high school level," said St. Clair, a human resource professional.

She says her professional skills, including fiscal analysis, project planning, management and policy evaluation, would be useful. She said she wants to lead the district in a new direction on initiatives such as plans to share a superintendent with Mundelein High School District 120.

Continued academic improvement with limited resources remains a challenge for the district, St. Clair added.

Neyzelman is a global marketing manager who has a daughter in preschool. She said her experience in business and as a mom with a child with special needs has developed skills to develop thoughtful, sustainable plans and be able to see them through.

"With the experience of making plans for her and executing on the plans she has in her goals, I could easily leverage that in how the school board makes their plans and the different responsibilities that they have and execute on those," Neyzelman said.

The struggle for District 75 will be to encourage new classroom and after-school programs in a financially sustainable way, she added.

Elisa Camp, a former art teacher and museum educator, said she benefitted from the many years of French she took while growing up and is interested District 75's dual language immersion program.

"I know how it expanded my world. I'm hoping to see it continue," she said. "This is such an amazing opportunity. It's, I believe, one of the real assets of this school district."

Cooperation and communication between administrators, staff and school boards will be essential as District 75 and 120 move to a system of shared services.

Fingerhut has been a family law attorney and mediator for 16 years. She grew up in California and moved to District 75 six years ago. She said wants to run as a taxpayer and parent of three kids in District 75 schools.

"Now that my youngest is starting kindergarten and I can have a little bit more time for volunteer activities in addition to my full-time practice, I am trying to find ways to get more involved, and with nine more years of a child in the district, I think I have a vested interest," she said.

The district's use of additional funding to address "adequacy gaps" will be important, as will the transition to the shared services system with District 120, Fingerhut added.

Rehm, who is seeking a third term, said his kids are third generation District 75 students. He said the district is "rudderless" in understanding what works and what doesn't for student achievement.

District 75 either doesn't have the talent or the will to track whether students are growing academically, according to Rehm.

"It's a reflection quite frankly of a good portion of the board, where it's all on feel and not on metrics, accountability and understanding really what the direction is," he said.

Understanding where funds should be used to make an impact needs should be a priority, Rehm added.

Avila, the only Latino on the board, is seeking a second term. Sixty percent of District 75 students are Latinos and the board should be a reflection of the community, she noted.

A lack of equity in services provided for struggling students needs to be addressed and the board needs to adopt a vision to focus on Adverse Childhood Experiences, according to Avila.

Goldman, an insurance agent and bond trader, said he has learned much about being a board member through training, visits to schools, budget discussions, outsourcing and new hire decisions, teacher negotiations and other areas.

"With these experiences, I feel more qualified to see the whole picture, ask the important questions, better represent the constituents and make better decisions than when I was first elected in 2015," he said.

The transition to a shared superintendent with District 120, improving test scores and working within budget constraints are important issues facing District 75, he added.