Francine Harrell
Profession
I retired from Commonwealth Edison after 29 years of service and have over 30 years experience in the human resource field.
Community / political experience
I am a resident of Broadview for 21 years with my husband jerry. I have 4 children, 9 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.
I am an active member of the Broadview United Party and I assist with hosting the back to school program for the village of Broadview.
List the top challenges facing this board and how you would address them
If elected, some of my goals would be to help increase parental participation, improve teacher morale, hold all school personnel accountable through job performance reviews and hire and retain the best employees. In so doing I believe that our high schools will receive a well-rounded education and bring our state test scores up.
Seeing how difficult it is for our children to stay in school is something i have seen far too long. New extra curriculum activities are needed. To give students an opportunity to move forward with a sound and bright future.
Carlos Anderson
Profession
Data management and marketing services
Community / Political experience
-No political experience
-Served on several policy and advisory committees at Proviso West High School
-Member of the Proviso West Band Parent Group for Proviso West Marching Band
-Serve part time with the Proviso West Booster Club
-Regularly attend District 209 school board meetings
Other / Professional experience
N/A
Education
Bachelor or Arts degree in Communications Management from Columbia College, Chicago
List the top challenges facing this board and how you would address them
“The top challenge this district faces has to be the dismal academic performance of the high schools for a number of years now. Also, the board continues to distance itself from the community and making radical decisions beyond the scope of its duties. A recent example is a scheduling policy change where there was no input allowed from the citizens of the district.
“The district needs to establish partnerships with the local elementary and feeder schools with goals that include enhanced high school preparation, a shared curriculum focus and consistent literacy assessments along with parent committee involvement. A business/leadership and financial literacy component should also be part of the curriculum to address the needs of character-building and life beyond high school.
“Other than a change taking place at the state level, or a state takeover, citizens need to be involved with the process. They need to be able to express concern, to assist in the decision making process and to do so with representation that reflects their ideals and their goals for the district.”
Theresa L. Kelly
Profession
Retired after 31 years working for Commonwealth Edison.
Community / Political experience
Served as President, Vice President and member of the Proviso Township Board of Education
Served as President November 2001 – April 2003 and led the institution of new education initiatives
Received the top Board of Education member honor from the Illinois State Board of Education
Award of Excellence in Education in Springfield, 2003
Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Proviso East Wall of Fame
Operation Uplift Hometown Dream maker Award, 2003
NAACP Medal of Freedom Award, 2003
Hillside Human Relations Commission Chairman’s Award
Golden Gavel Award as P.T.H.S. School Board President, 2003
Leadership Award P.T.H.S., 2004; Leadership P.T.H.S., 2005
Committed to Excellence Award Dr. Joyce Baker principal P.T.H.S., 2005
Operation Safe Child award for Contributions and Sacrifices for Education, 2006
Rock of Ages Baptist Church Certificate Education Appreciation Service, 2006
Certificate from the National Affiliate Program NSBA, 1999-2006
Swarthmore’s Who’s – Who based on Professional Achievement, 2007
Level 1 Award from IASB (Illinois Association of School Boards), 2010
Level 2 Award from IASB (Illinois Association of School Boards), 2010
Master School Board Member Award from IASB (Illinois Association of School Boards) – The highest level recognized by the association, 2010
National School Board Association Award for distinguished Service to Public Education from NSBA to be presented at the IASB spring division meeting, 2011
Other / Professional experience
Member, Executive Board of Proviso East School Based Health Clinic
Member, Illinois School Board Association
Member, National School Board Association
Member, Council Urban Boards of Education
Member, National Association of Black School Educators
Education
Washington Elementary School, Maywood
Proviso East High School, Maywood
Tennessee State University
List the top challenges facing this board and how you would address them
Stakeholders responsibility and involvement in academics – I want parents to take back their school. Teach parents what their responsibilities are and how they can help their children. I want parents to hold up to their responsibilities. We have students who come with four and five years of deficit. How do we get parents to help? I would like to see classes for board members so they understand the education jargon used such as AYP, NCLB, Title 1, sub groups, safe harbor, etc.
Fiscal Responsibility – Making sure we spend grant money on what it has been ear marked for. We have four grants frozen at this time. Is this due to mismanagement? If we are going for a two million dollar grant we need to do our research and find out what other schools in the area have received the grant and their feedback. We want full accountability on how the money is spent. We want honesty in hiring. If we have had service with a company for years, we need to review this company and make sure we are getting the best service and cost for our money. We are spending too much money on attorneys. We are spending close to a half a million dollars a year on attorneys. That equates to at least a dozen teachers that we could have hired to help our students.
Parents, the Community and Feeder School articulation – We need to keep parents informed and involved about their child’s education, discipline, and attendance. The community needs to step up with mentoring. Our schools need to be open in the evenings and at night for our students. We have to have better articulation with our feeder schools. We have students coming into high school reading on the third and fourth grade level. Our superintendent has to meet on a regular basis with the feeder school superintendents. They should meet at least once a month. The school boards, superintendents, the administration need to come together at least twice a year and hear the improvement in our districts and in neighboring districts. Awards should be given to schools that make great strides. Their should be a complete program on raising these schools and making them blue ribbon schools like St. Giles in Oak Park. We need to monitor best practices in other school districts. We need to go from good to great.”
Megan E Sawa
Profession
Elementary Teacher
Community / Political experience
Organized family reading nights to promote literacy.
Other / Professional experience
I have taught Kindergarten through fourth grade at Roosevelt School in Broadview and Lincoln School in Melrose Park. I have a passion about promoting literacy in families, therefore I have participated in literacy programs, seminars, and events in and around the Proviso Township area. I’m also attending classes to learn more effective hands-on learning strategies through the use of literature.
Education
Bachelor’s Degree with a Type 03 Teaching Certificate, Reading Teacher Endorsement, and Endorsements in Literacy, Social Sciences, and Middle School Approval.
List the top challenges facing this board and how you would address them
“One challenge facing the board would be prioritizing the budget to focus more of the school district’s resources toward teaching and student achievement rather than administrative items such as lobbyists, litigation, and patronage hiring.
“Another challenge is to find ways to protect existing revenue streams and find alternate revenue sources rather than further burdening Proviso Township property owners. I will address this challenge by closely monitoring Tax Increment Financing Districts and working with state and federal officials to secure grant funds.
“I find it is also important to promote more resident participation in addressing the challenges facing the school board. To accomplish this I will hold regular interactive meetings where parents and other residents are encouraged to share their concerns, comments, criticism, and ideas with me and any other board members willing to participate. I would also like the district to start posting the check register online and make recordings of board meetings easily available to the public.”
The responses have been structurally edited. Any grammatical or spelling errors were left intact.
