Eileen B. Kowalczyk: 2021 candidate for Mount Prospect District 57 school board

Six candidates for four, four-year seats

Bio

City: Mount Prospect

Age: 49

Occupation: Office, administrative work at Thompson Elevator Inspection Services

Civic involvement: School board member, PTO volunteer, Prospect Band Boosters Chaperone chairwoman

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 am running for reelection to the school board. I would like to continue to give stability to the board as they continue to navigate through this pandemic and the impact it has had on our learners. The main issue that I'm drawn to is to continue the excellent reputation for quality education our district has maintained.

Q: How would you grade the current school board on its response to the pandemic? Why?

A: I would grade the current board with a B. I don't believe any district has addressed the issues regarding the pandemic perfectly. At the start of the school year, given the information available, the district decided to proceed with remote learning. We made every effort to make our remote learning robust and I believe the district did a good job in planning the start of the school year. I can understand the desire for some to want to have returned in person earlier, but at that time we definitely wanted to maintain social distancing of six-feet under CDC, IDPH and ISBE guidelines. We know many felt it was just a guideline and not a mandate, but the state gave each school district the autonomy to decide what was best for the safety of each individual district. Given our district wanted our schools to operate in the safest way possible under those guidelines, as a fellow board member I do not regret that decision.

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: I view my role as a D57 board member, in the face of the pandemic, as simply to ensure the safety of all of our students and staff. Although our early decision to remain remote may not have been wanted by all, as a board we strove to balance all the factors, including the COVID numbers that were constantly changing. We want to hear everyone's voice and it's the board's duty to act responsibly.

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: Our district continued to serve our students throughout the pandemic. Our remote learning was robust. Our teachers did as phenomenal job in their remote learning environment. We were also able to provide in person instruction for our most vulnerable students who were most in need of in person learning. We adjusted our learning model to a hybrid model to incorporate in person learning to a larger percentage of our students. The hybrid model was meant to give our students math, reading and writing in person, and science as well as social studies were asynchronous. Hybrid was not perfect but it was able to get students into the school part of the time, while maintaining six-feet social distancing and masking. The district will switch to a full in and full remote model as of April 12th.

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: We do have a plan. The district has already made the decision to move to a full in and full remote learning models. One important lesson learned from the fall is that schools are not necessarily spreaders of COVID, as long as students and staff adhere to proper mitigation practices. With the numbers improving and the vaccines being distributed, I am very hopeful for the spring.

Q: What is your position on allowing high school sports to continue during the pandemic? Be specific.

A: As an elementary school district we are not impacted. High school sports are going to resume in the spring. I am personally excited for my junior son who is involved in gymnastics at Prospect. As long as everyone adheres to the guidelines to safely participate and to watch, then the season should be a good one.