Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board members plan to continue pursuing equity in District 65 schools and engaging with parents in the district, candidates said at a campaign event Sunday.

Board members Sergio Hernandez, Rebeca Mendoza and board vice president Anya Tanyavutti are all up for reelection on April 2, and all three are running uncontested. The candidates held a campaign kickoff event at YoFresh Yogurt Cafe, where they were joined by about 25 community members.

The candidates spoke about their goals for their upcoming terms, including improved social and emotional learning, kindergarten readiness and sustainable equity work.

Hernandez, who has served as a board member since he was appointed in 2017, said in an interview that listening to people from different backgrounds is important to the board’s equity work. Though the election is uncontested, he said it provides an opportunity to reach out to the community.

“We shouldn’t take public service for granted,” Hernandez said. “As public officials, we have a responsibility to the public to be able to put ourselves out there and listen, and to be able to incorporate community voice in our decisions and all the work that we do.”

Hernandez said he is focusing on development in social and emotional learning for students, beyond simply academic development in reading and writing.

Meagan Novara, a parent and employee in District 65, said she is glad the election is uncontested.

“They’re some of the best,” Novara said. “I want them in there. I feel like there has been a dramatic shift in sort of how we push for equity in this district.”

Novara said a part of that shift was the board’s work to have all District 65 staff go through Beyond Diversity training — a two-day seminar to build community and teach protocol for discussing race. She said she hopes the board continues to advocate for these values across the district.

As a board member, Tanyavutti said she has seen that diversity and equity have, and will continue to be, priorities of the board.

“If we want to have a governance body that is truly representative of the best that our community has to offer, we have to listen to our community, even when it’s difficult,” Tanyavutti said. “Even if we anticipate that folks may not all be in agreement that that is okay.”

Tanyavutti added that this disagreement in the initial stages of discussion can help create a better policy product.

Mendoza, who spent parts of her childhood in Evanston, said she is thankful for the “amazing education” she received in the city. But when she returned to Evanston after college, she said she realized “everything was the same” for the Latino community.

“We were still challenged with graduation rates, still challenged by getting our Latino community visible in Evanston,” Mendoza said. “We still have a challenge with that.”

Working for various education and child development groups within Evanston — District 65, Family Focus, Youth & Opportunity United and others — Mendoza said she realized there was little communication about kindergarten readiness resources available for community members.

She said a commitment to early childhood development and connecting parents with kindergarten readiness resources is “at the top of my list.”

“If we get early childhood, right, we have a chance at closing the (education) gap in our city,” Mendoza said. “If we create strong learners from the start, and strong families who know how to work the system who know how to be the best advocates for their kids, I really think that that would make a huge difference.”

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