After being elected to the Evanston/Skokie District 65 School Board for the first time, Jerome Summers and Sharon Sheehan said they will bring a new perspective to solve communication problems between parents and board members.
“I have a vision that Evanston can be a model for what America should be,” Summers said. “It’s not a matter of aptitude, it’s a matter of attitude, of just refusing to let our children fail.”
And two re-elected incumbents, Mary Erickson and Mary Rita Luecke, said they would continue to work on District 65’s budget problems and explore expanding the bilingual program.
Incumbent Bob Eder wasn’t re-elected Tuesday, and Hecky Powell, the board president, didn’t run. Board members Jonathan Baum, Marianne Kountoures and Julie Chernoff were not up for election.
Sheehan, a math teacher at Glenbrook South High School, said she wants people to know the school board is “listening to them.”
A main concern during the campaign was communication between parents, teachers and board members. At a meeting last year, the board voted to renew Superintendent Hardy Murphy’s contract without making clear the decision would take place that evening.
“The key is not just more communication,” Sheehan said, “but honest communication.”
Summers said he hopes the district can work more closely with the Evanston community.
“I would like to involve businesses, churches, the city, Northwestern University and maybe even seniors,” he said. “I am sure the support will pour out.”
Sheehan said she was pleased with the school board’s adoption of 2005-06 goals last month. The goals include raising the level of student academic achievement, improving the middle schools and securing financial health.
“I pretty much agree with their goals,” Sheehan said. “I am happy that the goals have been determined so that as a new board we are ready to get to work on them.”
Luecke, who won her second term, said she wants to incorporate the new members’ views in the board’s discussion.
“It will be really a new group of people,” she said. “I would like to spend a lot of time thinking about where the priorities of the district are.”
District 65’s budget has also been an area of concern. To save money, Luecke said District 65 should make sure only children who really need special education are enrolled in the program.
Erickson, who has been on the board since 1997, said her work with the Two-Way Immersion program was one of her greatest accomplishments on the board. The program was adopted in 2000.
TWI brings native speakers of English and Spanish together in the same classroom at Washington Elementary School. Some parents have suggested extending the TWI program into higher grades but Erickson said she thinks the board should not make any quick decisions.
“What TWI will look like in the middle schools is unknown,” Erickson said. “It’s just too early to tell.”
Reach Lensay Abadula
