Lavanya Sridhar: 2021 candidate for Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89 board
Six candidates are vying for four, 4-year seats on the Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89 school board in the April 6, 2021, election.
Bio
Town: Glen Ellyn
Age: Not provided
Occupation: Marketing Strategy and Analytics at AbbVie
Civic involvement: Past board positions at Teen Parent Connection, Glen Ellyn Juniors
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. For re-election-to continue to provide stability and direction to create the best education and support opportunities to all our students.
My focus is to enable continued engagement with the community and focus to enabling equity in education for all students.
Q. How would you grade the current school board on its response to the pandemic? Why?
A. As a current board member, we had to make tough choices in navigating the impact of the pandemic. There were bumps in the road, but we have focused on enabling consistency abc quality education to our students while ensuring health and safety of our students, teachers and staff.
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. We followed the scientific recommendations and health metrics to drive our decisions as safety and health of all is important. We also ensured that the administration connected with parents and the community on all the efforts with the students' academic needs first.
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. We passed an referendum in 2019 which enabled financial flexibility in being agile and adaptive to the pandemic. All the mitigation efforts put in place enabled most students benefiting from the schooling.
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. Absolutely. The administration has been working very closely with the teachers and parents to enable a transition back to maximum classes (less than the normal) on March 22. We hope this will help us learn further and enable a full school back in the fall. Hopeful the community spread is low and we are benefited from the vaccinations. I am part of the district leadership council and working closely on how best we can maximize school for all students.
Q. What is your position on allowing high school sports to continue during the pandemic? Be specific.
A. I am open for students to get their fullest sports experiences while ensuring the latest CDC and state guidelines are followed. I am a believer in science and key metrics driving decisions for group sports. My son runs on the cross-country team locally, and I was comfortable sending him as the schools allowed maximum participation with all the right precautions in place.