Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of candidate profiles for the District 65 board election.

Chris Van Nostrand, the father of two Evanston/Skokie School District 65 students, is vying for one of the four open seats on the district’s Board of Education. 

The Strength Wise Barbell founder said he wants to use his financial management and academic policy background to improve students’ experience and the school district’s overall performance.

“We need to look at our current crises as an opportunity to rebuild the academic culture and make sure we’re raising standards and expectations for everybody,” Van Nostrand said. 

After graduating from Kenyon College with a degree in political science, Van Nostrand previously worked in marketing and admissions at Northwestern and the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Van Nostrand spoke to The Daily about his goals for District 65 if elected. 

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

The Daily: What went into your decision to run for the school board?

Van Nostrand: I’ve been thinking for a long time about ways to get involved in public service. The timing of this election and the opportunity to work on education issues really spoke to me.

The Daily: What would your first goal be as a board member?

Van Nostrand: I want to partner with the community to establish a vision for what District 65 could look like and how we can be the best possible school district of which parents are proud and educators are excited to join. 

The Daily: The next phase, Phase 3, of District 65’s Structural Deficit Reduction Plan includes school consolidations. How would you approach these consolidations and Phase 3 of the plan as a whole?

Van Nostrand: The key is going to be establishing objective criteria early on. What is the basis for evaluating our current facilities (and) schools, and making decisions about which ones to close? We need to begin with “What is the long-term goal here?”

Once we have that criteria, we need to communicate (it) to every stakeholder that we possibly can, so that as we’re going through the actual decision process, the schools that close will not be a surprise.

The Daily: Are there any school consolidation criteria that you personally think are important?

Van Nostrand: We need to be realistic about the condition of some of the schools. There’s a lot of deferred maintenance. 

Historical enrollment patterns are important too. There’s a big difference between a school that has a bumpy enrollment pattern versus schools that have a long-term decline.

The Daily: During the discussions to close Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies, several community members said there wasn’t a lot of communication or transparency from the board. As a board member, how would you address that gap?

Van Nostrand: We need to go into the community to communicate, whether it’s at coffee shops, meeting with religious leaders, (or) meeting at local restaurants. 

It can’t be that we depend on parents showing up to board meetings or reading our website. Those are very reactive communication channels. 

The Daily: On your campaign website, you talk about “raising excellence” through middle school graduation requirements and creating an adaptable curriculum for students. Why are these important and what do they look like?

Van Nostrand: Given the decline across the district in readiness on the state level exams by eighth grade (in the last decade), it’s worth taking a more rigorous approach. Graduation requirements don’t have to be punitive, but they’re a way of providing an additional layer of accountability.

As far as individualized learning, that’s making sure we are using evidence-based best practices to individualize the experience to the students, particularly those who might need more help or intervention. 

Email: [email protected] 

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Related Stories:

— District 65 board hears demography, equity progress indicator reports 

— District 65 board unanimously approves $13.3 million spending reduction 

— D65 meeting attendees share concerns over classroom size, enrollment