Dawn Martin: 2021 candidate for Elgin Area School District U-46
Four candidates are running for three, 4-year terms on the Elgin Area School District U-46 board.
Bio
City: Bartlett
Age: 44
Occupation: Stay-at-home parent
Civic involvement: Cookie Chair for Girl Scout Troop 1245, BHS Booster Rep for Boys Swimming, Treasurer for BHS Parent Advisory Committee, certified Administrative Official for Illinois Swimming, past volunteer at Centennial and Horizon Elementary Schools, board member and volunteer for Barracuda Swim team at Bartlett Park District
Q&A
Q. Why are you running for this office, whether for reelection or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?
A. I have enjoyed volunteering within U46 throughout my children's education. This past year however families have had diminished access to educational and social-emotional supports due to the pandemic, leading to various struggles. Hearing these stories, and seeing them firsthand, has motivated me to volunteer on a larger scale. As a SD U46 board member, my first focus would be a safe and full reopening of our district in the fall. This includes assessing current educational impacts, working with teachers on supplemental learning opportunities, and reengaging students and their families through open dialogue and events. Other issues I look forward to being a part of include increasing district funding from the state; ensuring ongoing support of clubs, the arts, and athletics; ongoing review of curriculum for the Pathways/Magnet Academy rollout; review of gifted programming at middle and high schools; and working with our equity group to ensure all schools within our district are supported to best serve their students.
Q. How would you grade the current school board on its response to the pandemic? Why?
A. Following updated secondary grading policies of SD U46, I am giving our school board an “Incomplete” for their response to the pandemic to date. Early on, it seemed our board members were content to follow guidance being given by our administration without many questions or feedback. Though case rates were low in August, our district chose the most conservative plan forward and began in an all-remote learning format. Many emails sent to current board members regarding these plans were not responded to and families felt the needs of their students and their concerns were being ignored. It was not until a couple months into the school year that some board members started to speak up on the behalf of struggling students. At this time, it was becoming obvious to all that more students were disengaged from their education and failing grades were on the rise. Our school board has since voted to approve a move to a hybrid learning format. If our board continues to put students first, push for improved paths for all students to learn more effectively this semester, and improve communication with families their grade for the year could improve to a B-.
Q. How do you view your role in confronting the pandemic: provide leadership even if unpopular, give a voice to constituents — even ones with whom you disagree, or defer to state authorities?
A. During the pandemic, and always as a school board member, I believe our role is listening to our families and students to ensure all needs are met. We are elected to be their voice when hearing district plans and when voting on any changes to district policies. It is now more obvious than ever that one plan does not work for all students. Education during the pandemic needs to be flexible and ensure that students are learning and thriving not merely surviving. This means providing resources to all students — both those looking for remote learning and those ready to be back in classrooms. As a school board member, I will not back down from speaking up for what is in the best interest of students. Whether that is pushing for more time in classrooms, or the continuation of a full remote option next fall, I will listen to our families and fight for their children to have their educational needs met. Putting students first does not mean ignoring state guidance or the needs of teachers. Its understanding what the end goal needs to be and putting reasonable standards in place to get there.
Q. Did your district continue to adequately serve students during the disruptions caused by the pandemic? If so, please cite an example of how it successfully adjusted to continue providing services. If not, please cite a specific example of what could have been done better.
A. I believe SD U46 could have done a better job serving our students during the pandemic. The biggest example of this would be the disruption of services to our students with IEPs/504s. These students have plans that may include things like additional instructional hours to work on speech, personalized learning instruction, or occupational and physical therapy. Upon talking with families, it seems many of these services were either provided in an all-remote format or were delayed. These students were at the greatest risk of educational setbacks during this time and deserved to have their needs met in a better format. While these students were prioritized once SD U46 decided to begin limited in-person instruction, the additional losses incurred for these students could have been minimized by planning for an earlier reopening. As a district, we need to review the hours of in-person instruction and services these students lost and schedule additional resources now and over the summer to meet their needs going forward.
Q. Do you have a plan on how to safely and effectively conduct classes in the spring? What have you learned from the fall semester that you would change in the spring?
A. In SD U46 middle and high school students were in an all-remote format for the fall semester. Based on the increased rate of failing grades and conversations with many parents whose children are struggling both academically and emotionally, I would say this format was ineffective. Currently our district is using a hybrid format that includes a full day of “live” zoom, two half days of in-person instruction, two additional half days of zoom instruction and four half days of individual work time. This plan offers minimal in-person instruction, reduced “live” instruction time overall and a schedule that is difficult for many working families. For fourth quarter, I am looking for our district to move to an option that has students in-person five half days per week. Students who remain in remote learning would continue to have instruction by zoom in the afternoons. By this time, our staff will have been offered the chance at vaccination and ideally case rates continue to decline. Current policies such as masking and avoiding lunch and snack time in the buildings would continue. In some cases, individual schools may need to look at where classes are held to follow updated spacing guidance.
Q. What is your position on allowing high school sports to continue during the pandemic? Be specific.
A. Last March, students left their schools, activities and friends thinking in a few weeks they would be back to what they have known. Those weeks turned into months of isolation, lack of social-emotional supports and hours upon hours of time spent staring at a screen trying to stay focused enough to learn. In SD U46, fall did not bring back a sense of normalcy for most of our students. For many of these kids, their activities such as sports, theater and band were how they coped with the stresses of school, growing up and life around them. I believe reintroducing these activities to our students will allow them to better handle the ongoing changes due to COVID and support their continued growth into well-rounded adults. Various athletic organizations at the state and national levels have introduced plans to reduce the risk of COVID during events. Sports were never a risk-free endeavor, however the benefit to our students' long-term health and development should be considered. I have seen firsthand how having access to athletics can benefit our kids and I support athletics and the arts continuing at this time.