School Board Election | Decatur, IL

Bill Clevenger

Summary: Bill Clevenger is focused on academic achievement, especially teaching k-3 to read. He wants to strengthen arts & athletics programs, increase schoool safety, saying the hire of Valdimir Talley is a step forward, and turn the School Board into a "high performing board." He ran the Park District for 34 years, lived in Decatur for 35 years, and had 4 kids graduate from Macarthur High School.

Misty Fronk

Summary: Misty Fronk is focused on reading, writing, and math. She also wants to "be a voice for the children, the parents, and the teachers." She's running because one of her granddaughters had a low reading level, then her daughter moved out of state, and her granddaughter's reading level has since improved. She is concerned that children who don't feel they'll succeed at school will "turn to whatever they think is gonna make them feel better and feel like they're part of a community."

Jacob Jenkins

Summary: Jacob Jenkins is running to address chronic absenteeism, school safety and its broader impacts in the community, bring "new curriculums" and "trained staff to show teachers how to implement it," and because of "declining academics, school violence, and a Board that lacks accountability, stability, and credibility." He says public education is "transformative [for] a community when executed well," and "there's still a great work to be done in this community."

Mark Reynolds

Summary: Mark Reynolds wants to "to do everything I can in my power to raise [reading, math, and science] scores." He's especially concerned about children who can't read by third grade, saying "That child is lost. We've lost that child," and "we as a community can't tolerate that." He is running because he read a Wall Street Journal editorial a few months ago that "lambasted Illinois education" and highlighted Decatur as a "disaster" because "about 5% of our kids can't read at grade level." ...

Will Wetzel

Summary: Will Wetzel says "everything has to go back to student learning," which starts with making the schools safe and welcoming for students and staff. His 2nd focus is accountability, saying the School Board needs to follow the law. He claims it has violated the Open Meetings Act 19 times over the last two years. He adds that the School Board needs to be responsive to the community and he pledges to remain active in the community. He is a 2003 Eisenhower High School Graduate and a parent of a 2nd gra

Hannah Wolfe

Summary: Hannah Wolfe hopes to raise a family and send her kids to Decatur Public Schools, "which is why I'm running for School Board." She says the negative aspects of Decatur are stated the most and "it's not the truth & it's not the whole picture," and she wants to do better at telling the postive stories. She was born & raised in Decatur, attended University of Illinois with a major in business, then moved back to Decatur to work. She is the daughter of Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe.

Jalynn Walker

Summary: Jalynn Walker withdrew from the School Board race.

Datrice Weathers

Summary: Datrice Weathers withdrew from the School Board race.

Hannah Wolfe

Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** says it is not a "one-size-fits-all solution", or we'd be solving the problem already. She says "not everybody learns the same" and it will take "a lot of little solutions" with everyone in the community working together, "doing little things to help small groups of students at a time," not just the school board. She says we'll nee...

Will Wetzel

Summary: **Will Wetzel** says the district does not have the "consistency that we need to have," citing the loss of six principals in the past 18 months and 101 current open teaching positions. "We are a district in crisis," so he says "[we] have to find that stability," which "starts with the School Board" and board governance. Will says the board need...

Mark Reynolds

Summary: **Mark Reynolds** talked with a couple Stephen Decatur teachers who said just 10-12% of students were causing most of the disruption. The teachers suggested that procedures and administrators need to be in place to do necessary discipline and "separate the bad apples" who are making it hard to teach. Mark also suggests "recruiting [more] minori...

Jacob Jenkins

Summary: **Jacob Jenkins** criticized his opponents for suggesting that "if we just put everything out there, everything will be fine." He said the district needs "Board Members that will work with the community to strengthen what we already have" and "put more resources into the classroom." He says "we had a few black principals here and the district kind of ran them off," so he says more accountability is needed ...

Misty Fronk

Summary: **Misty Fronk** says the whole community needs to get involved, especially with after-school programs like a reading lab, math lab, and english lab. She says this won't take from the school budget as these programs would be volunteer driven, involving parents, older students, and members of the community at large. Misty says the district needs ...

Bill Clevenger

Summary: **Bill Clevenger** says being "kid-centered" starts with stable leadership, and that he's seen 17 different superintendents during his 34 years working in Decatur. He says it's not "effective for our kids" for leadership to change every 2 or 3 years, and that the district needs someone who is in it for the long haul like [Caring Black Men](https://...

Jalynn Walker

Summary: Jalynn Walker withdrew from the School Board Race.

Datrice Weathers

Summary: Datrice Weathers withdrew from the School Board Race.

Bill Clevenger

Summary: Bill Clevenger says it will take a a culture of support and excellence "that people thrive in", while "expect[ing] staff to perform at high levels throughout our community". He says this depends on leadership, including "second level leadership," and he says "if we have a functional board [and] a high performing superintendent, we're gonna get much better results from our [schools]."

Misty Fronk

Summary: **Misty Fronk** says "the teachers have to feel like they're safe in their classrooms," in order to teach effectively. She also advocates for "more teachers in classrooms," to help struggling kids and keep lessons on-track for students who are doing well. She says "If the teachers felt safe and [they] felt like the community," the school board, and...

Jacob Jenkins

Summary: **Jacob Jenkins** says, "as a former union president", he says "one of the greatest attractions" for teachers is "better wages that are on par with other districts of similar composition," and that "paying teachers more and paying them what they're worth will make a huge difference." He said CARES money could have incentivized teachers and afforded...

Mark Reynolds

Summary: **Mark Reynolds** wants more parental involvement and volunteerism, and he is concerned about how stressed teachers are, based on his recent experience substitute teaching. He says changing the culture to reduce stress levels is important because "if our population of teachers is totally stressed out, it just sends a bad signal to people we're tryi...

Will Wetzel

Summary: **Will Wetzel** says the board needs anonymized exit interview data from teachers to understand why teachers who have not reached retirement age are leaving. He says they need to focus on and fix things within the scope of the board, whether it is pay, time off, admininistrator issues or something else. Will says Decatur needs to "grow its own l...

Hannah Wolfe

Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** advocates for an "aggressive hiring campaign," "benefits that are going to keep the teachers that we have," and "competitive pay like Jacob said", including good health insurance which she says is "incredibly important to be happy with your job." She agrees with Will that "growing our own" teachers would help. She discusses her...

Jalynn Walker

Summary: Jalynn Walker withdrew from the School Board Race.

Datrice Weathers

Summary: Datrice Weathers withdrew from the School Board Race.

Hannah Wolfe

Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** says "we made some good strides" with the recent hire of [Valdimir Talley](https://www.decaturvote.com/story/valdimir-talley/), DPS's new safety officer, and that it will "take a bit of time" to show results. She says violence is a problem not just in schools, but in workplaces in other industries too. She says "I don't think we've...

Will Wetzel

Summary: **Will Wetzel** says "there are so many steps" before "the first punch is thrown," and we need to "focus on making sure that we are intervening early" by putting together volunteer programs with parents & community members, increasing extracurricular & after-school activities, as well as peace-making programs and restorative justice programs "that ...

Mark Reynolds

Summary: **Mark Reynolds** said he just learned the high schools have metal detectors at the doors & he talked to someone at Stephen Decatur who wants them too. He wants to give the new security administrator some time to work on the violence and safety issues, but says that school safety is a "high priority as far as I'm concerned", a change from his stanc...

Jacob Jenkins

Summary: **Jacob Jenkins** says the Board needs to acknowledge its past "bad decisions" to close down schools and put kids together, saying that putting Thomas Jefferson kids together with Stephen Decatur is what created the situation that led to police being called over 120 times in one year due to fighting and violence. He says school violence is addre...

Misty Fronk

Summary: **Misty Fronk** says there "will be signs" before any "real violent scene", and agrees with Jacob, saying those signs can be recognized if we get more people into the schools. Then she wants pull those children aside to get to the root cause of their feelings & why they're acting out, whether it's struggling with school or "maybe something at home"...

Bill Clevenger

Summary: **Bill Clevenger** agrees with Hannah that "one of the hardest decisions a school board member will make" is to "expel a young person from our school system." He says it's a difficult question, "not a 2 minute question." He says we have two schools, Garfield and Milligan, that provide alternatives for kids who receive an "expulsion with a stay". ...

Jalynn Walker

Summary: Jalynn Walker withdrew from the School Board Race.

Datrice Weathers

Summary: Datrice Weathers withdrew from the School Board Race.

Bill Clevenger

Summary: **Bill Clevenger** expressed concern that with hot-button issues like these, "often times one snippet becomes the viral conversation," and he says we need to "look at what is contained in the curriculum and have the total picture." As far as actually handling these issues, he says board members need to "vote our own conscience," as well as "rely...

Misty Fronk

Summary: **Misty Fronk** says "it's good for everybody to know complete history, whether it be black history or lgbtq," but "if we're going to teach children history that may be contradictory to their parents beliefs, or whatever, the parents should be notified in writing and have to sign something saying that they are okay with you teaching their child tha...

Jacob Jenkins

Summary: **Jacob Jenkins** says "this is a very important question, but first I would say that School Districts need to follow the law around whatever the subject is," whether it is "lgbt or black history". He says it is very important to follow "the law and state statute" surrounding that information. Jacob says "This is one of those questions that some...

Mark Reynolds

Summary: **Mark Reynolds** says: "I'm very sensitive about what our children are being taught, especially about sex. Sexuality to me is an age appropriate type of subject." He says "I wanna protect the innocence of our [1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade] kids." "I don't feel it's appropriate for them to be immersed in the LGBTQ agenda and the ideologies that go ...

Will Wetzel

Summary: **Will Wetzel** agrees with Jenkins that "first and foremost, we have to comply with the law." Will says the Illinois State Board of Education "sets outlines for curriculum", and it is up to school administration to implement it. He says "our job, as a School Board, is to hire administrators and allow them the latitude to choose a curriculum ba...

Hannah Wolfe

Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** said "one of the reasons we teach history is so that it doesn't repeat itself," so we need to be "brutally honest about what that history is at an age-appropriate level. Whitewashing it isn't going to help any of us; it's not gonna help any of our kids or the next generations." She says "our job is to prepare kids for the real w...

Jalynn Walker

Summary: Jalynn Walker withdrew from the School Board Race.

Datrice Weathers

Summary: Datrice Weathers withdrew from the School Board Race.

Hannah Wolfe

Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** says there are a "million different answers, because they are going a million different places," whether their path is trades, college, or directly into work. She says there's a lot of good going on already, with the Ag Academy and Leadership Institute. She says "we could always do more", and that "we need this workforce. we are...

Will Wetzel

Summary: **Will Wetzel** says "everything has to go back to academics and student learning. We need to be able to prepare our children for the future, and right now, for a lot of our children, we're not." He says it comes back to "what can the board control?" He says the board can support the superintendent, teachers, and other staff to "[make] sure tha...

Mark Reynolds

Summary: **Mark Reynolds** says "I too believe that reading, writing, and arithmetic has got to be stressed. We obviously need to raise the scores of our students." Seemingly in response to Hannah's earlier statement, Mark says "And I understand living in the real world, but there are ways in which our children can be taught, and there are age appropriat...

Jacob Jenkins

Summary: **Jacob Jenkins** says "the first thing that we have to do is get our kids back into the classroom because they're not there," and says "72% of 10th graders suffer from chronic absenteeism, meaning they miss 18 days of educational learning," and that absenteeism crosses racial lines. Jacob says these kids aren't ready to go into the workforce be...

Misty Fronk

Summary: **Misty Fronk** suggests that there be home economics or wood shop or auto shop classes, "or even have a class of finance or job skills". She suggests a semester where they "do nothing but learn how to apply for a job" or "how to write a resume". She says "not everybody goes to college," and these classes would help prepare those students who don't...

Bill Clevenger

Summary: **Bill Clevenger** says we need to focus on "writing, basic math, [and] reading." He says "reading is the basis of all; if you can't read by 4th grade, your chances of success in any other subject are greatly, greatly diminished." He says "Mayor, economic development again can do a great job, but we have to have a workforce that can enter those bus...

Jalynn Walker

Summary: Jalynn Walker withdrew from the School Board Race.

Datrice Weathers

Summary: Datrice Weathers withdrew from the School Board Race.