District 219 School Board candidates Lindley Wisnewski, Nour Akhras, Kandice Cooley-Jones and Eric Brown participated in a forum at Niles West on Tuesday, March 11 hosted by the student governments of Niles West and Niles North. The four candidates are competing for three openings on the school board, with current board members Joe Nowik, Elana Jacobs and Naema Abraham not seeking re-election. Election day is April 1.

Politics and Current Events (PACE) Club president and senior August Bicknese-Klein worked to plan the event.

“We had an idea to have a forum for the whole community so people could know who’s running for school board and what their positions were. We looked into what questions people wanted to ask. We sent out forms to the whole school, and anyone who submitted a question could show up [to the forum] and ask,” Bicknese-Klein said.

Cooley-Jones, who graduated from Niles West in 2005, is the vice president of D69’s school board. She and Wisnewski, who also serves on the D69 school board, aim to transfer lessons about engaging the community. Skokie-Morton Grove District 69 includes Madison Elementary, Edison Elementary, and Lincoln Jr. High. Wisniewski, a West parent, looks forward to the switch to a larger school district.

“I’ve done a lot of work at 69 and I think we’ve come a long way, especially in our inclusion, antiracism work and LGBTQ+ work. I’d like to switch gears and work within the bigger district with the older kids, so it feels like the right time to switch over and work in this district,” Wisnewski said.

Akhras is a pediatric hospitalist and infectious disease physician. If elected to the school board, she plans to prioritize adults supporting students to set them up for success later in life.

“I graduated high school never believing there was a glass ceiling no matter what your identity is, and I want to make sure that you graduate high school having the most number of adults in your corner,” Akhras said.

Brown is a Niles North parent and a data scientist who believes the skills from that job could be applied to managing finances on the school board.

“I think [running in the election] is a high form of civic duty. Our budget is very significant and I think some of my quantitative skills will be useful and my big heart will hopefully guide me the rest of the way,” Brown said.

When asked about the candidates’ top three priorities, Akhras, Cooley-Jones and Wisnewski all mentioned increasing staff diversity. Based on her experience at D69 where she faced difficulties retaining diverse staff, Wisnewski proposed steps to attain this goal at D219.

“We need professional development with our staff and team-building so that everyone knows how to be there for each other and keep a really respectful, inclusive environment when they are here,” Wisnewski said.

According to the Illinois School Report Card for 2024, 81.9% of teachers at Niles West are white while white students make up 38.5% of West’s student population.

Akhras and Wisnewski also mentioned prioritizing mental health support for students. As a pediatric hospitalist, Akhras has witnessed a rise in mental health issues and called for more resources in this area. For Cooley-Jones, transparent communication and engagement with the community is important, including taxpayers without children in the district because all constituents of Niles Township are stakeholders. Brown’s top three priorities are finances, facilities and food services.

“I’d like to make sure that we keep the projects on track, vendors paid, safety ensured and everything you’d expect from a well-run construction plan. Food services are important also. We keep kosher, and we appreciate the extra accommodation that the school district has given to our faith community,” Brown said.

Students asked the candidates how they would establish open communication between the school board and students. Brown mentioned that the two student board representatives, public comments and emails to the board can be a link between students and the board. Wisnewski suggested using focus groups to get input from students, parents, teachers and community members. Akhras acknowledged the difficulty of making everyone happy and wants to find solutions that make the majority happy but also consider the most vulnerable. Cooley-Jones proposed a forum for students to share their thoughts. 

“When it comes to school board, your main priority is listening obviously, but then you’re taking that information and you’re trying to figure out how to fulfill those needs in the most equitable way. Some people may need more than other people. That’s how you get the balances, by looking at everything, looking in whole, listening in whole. From there, [it’s] figuring out how to fulfill each of those needs the best way you can with what you have,” Cooley-Jones said.

Students asked the candidates how they would ensure the safety of students at school, especially for people of color. Cooley-Jones and Brown explained that a district-wide anti-hate policy must be in place. Candidates also mentioned raising awareness about hate in the district in order to combat it.

“I think [bullying] comes about from the dehumanization process. When you bully another person, you may not see them as human. One of the antidotes to dehumanization is storytelling, and I can propose a million ways of how we can combat that, but ultimately, I think keeping an environment of inclusivity and antiracism starts from the top and hatred cannot be tolerated. It needs to be talked about and confronted and checked every single time,” Akhras said.

Cooley-Jones notes that the issue stems from a lack of education.

“A lot of the reason people have biases that they don’t even know they had. They are uneducated and they don’t have the knowledge about the issues. Even if you have grown up in an area where you feel like it’s a diverse area, or you feel like ‘I know people of color,’ do you know the history of the United States…That is a huge issue of people not understanding the gravity of that from generation to generation, so that is really important for me and my children to do something about it,” Cooley-Jones said. 

Post-graduation planning was brought up when students asked how candidates would support those who didn’t plan on attending a four-year university. All candidates called for more awareness of other paths after high school, like community college or trade school.

“20% of the students here don’t go to university, so I think it’s really important to normalize that as an option and destigmatize it,” Akhras said.

Candidates also commented on JB Pritzker’s recent proposal to ban cell phones at schools. Candidates agreed that a complete ban was too harsh, but restrictions should be implemented during instructional time.

Student government representative and Niles North junior Ashley Weatherspoon asked candidates about increasing Black and Latino representation in honors and AP classes. Candidates proposed mentorship to let them know honors and AP is available. They also believe that more factors should be taken into consideration for enrollment into an advanced class than just grades or standardized test scores. Akhras proposed classes where students start out at the same level and can elect to take honors, encouraging more people to take it.

Standardized test scores are not currently a prerequisite for students to enroll in AP courses.

Weatherspoon believes the forum gave her a better perspective on the candidates’ views.

“I think at times they were a bit broad, but it was definitely interesting to see what many of their opinions were, and it was definitely encouraging to hear all the different policies they want to implement and elect me with hope for the districts in the future,” Weatherspoon said.

The election takes place on April 1, and all constituents of Niles Township 18 years old and above are eligible to vote and may register to vote on the Village of Skokie website.