Illinois School Board Day

I learned at the board meeting today (7 – 10:30 p.m., a little longer than average, but not too much so) that Tuesday was Illinois School Board Day, in which we appreciate all our unpaid school board members. Yay, us!

Our superintendent said we donate hundreds of honors in our four-year term, but I suspect if I did the math, it would be more like a thousand or more. But let’s not add it all up, shall we, or we’ll never convince anyone to run!

And to be fair, you really don’t have to spend as much time as I do on the gig; I tend to get interested in various aspects and go off and do outside research on my own, and that’s what ends up eating up LOTS of extra time — it is not expected of you as a board member!

Mostly you have to show up to the meetings every other week (and most school boards don’t run nearly as late with their meetings as ours does, is my impression), read the agenda in advance (and ask if you have any questions), and read / consider the e-mails from the community.

So if you’re interested in running for D200, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me; I’m happy to get coffee and tell you more about it. Yes, it is time-consuming. It is also very rewarding.

Tonight we did a few major things, including taking the next steps on an intergovernmental agreement with the local police that will hopefully ensure that any police officers who get called into our school in an emergency will be part of a team trained in our school culture, trained in implicit bias, trained in de-escalation techniques, and familiar with the principles of restorative justice.

We also took the next steps to approve a major track-and-field project (in collaboration with the Park District), that should make serious material (and equity-significant) improvements to student physical education at OPRF.

AND I learned the difference between stormwater retention and stormwater detention — the former is what you’d want in a garden, the latter is what you’d want in a sports field. (See first comment for more details.)

So if all that sounds like fun to you, consider running for your local school board. Petitions are due pretty soon, so it’s time to start collecting signatures now. You too could have your picture up on the wall outside the board room, just like this!

(Also, if elected just once to local office in America, you are entitled to the title “The Honorable” for the rest of your life. I outrank Kevin now, and my name goes first on formal mail, which is rather satisfying. The Honorable Mohanraj and Dr. Whyte. I like it.)

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