Mark Reynolds for School Board 2023

Policy Positions

• Cell Phones: "No cell phones in classrooms."
• "Stop socially advancing children that aren't ready to advance."

Goals

• Focus on reading, math, and science.
• Engage parents in student education.
• Get more volunteers to help out at schools, such as to teach reading.
• Put procedures and administrators in place to discipline and "separate the bad apples" who cause disruptions at school.
• Recruit more minorities, because he read in an article that low-performing black students tend to feel more comfortable and improve when they have a black teacher.
• "We need to get the teachers, the administration, and the board together" to come up with a plan that "we all can get behind, and all feel good about, and then work on it."

Statements & Quotes

• "We need to attack our low grade level reading, math, and science scores. I want to be part of the solutions."
• "If we have children that can't read after the third grade, we've lost them."
• School security is not "a high priority on my list," Mark says on Feb 21, 2023. On March 8th, 2023: 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"
• "Discipline in the school is, is a big challenge"
• He says it will "take time" to solve the district's problems, there isn't a "silver bullet", and that he should be evaluated after 4 years.
• Regarding Transparency: "Though I don’t believe these personnel issues are a board responsibility, state law mandates that we be involved." & "Otherwise, I will do my best to make sure that we don’t have any closed meetings that contradict state laws about open meetings." See Herald & Review
• Mark says the board should set specific goals for the superintendent, hold her accountable to those goals & that the board "must never get involved in the day to day operation of our district. " See Herald & Review
• 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." Note: I believe Reynolds mis-spoke & meant to say that only 5% of Decatur kids can read at grade level.
• 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 trying to attract."
• He is concerned not enough parents are involved in their student's education, noting low turnout at a parent-teacher conference.
• He says parents need to teach kids how to write their own names & that he has a friend who volunteers at Hope Academy to help kids read. He also mentions the teacher shortage adding to stress.
• Mark believes it is a "sad fact" that "truthfully, there are some children that aren't going to be teachable." From past experience subbing at Futures, he says Futures is a good option for kids who want to learn but don't fit into the high school setting.
• Mark says he doesn't have an answer for kids who don't want to be in school and don't want an education. He says "I feel bad for them" but "as a board member" he has to "look at the big picture" and he is "more worried about the 90% that want to learn."
• When asked about curriculum related to black history & LGBTQIA+ issues, Mark said "I don't feel it's appropriate for [kids] to be immersed in the LGBTQ agenda," that he does not want to ban books, but "I don't want a 3rd grader reading about two men having sex together." My Opinion: The question asked was NOT about sex education, and being honest about the existence of gay people (some kids may have two dads), has nothing to do with sex.
• "I too believe that reading, writing, and arithmetic has got to be stressed. We obviously need to raise the scores of our students."

Current Roles / Jobs

• He substitute teaches at Hope Academy, Franklin Grove, and Montessori.

Endorsed By

• Central Illinois PAC

Personal History / Info

• Age 72
• Retired investment broker for Wells Fargo

Sources

• CONO School Board Forum
• WAND Interview
• Email from Mark Reynolds
• Herald & Review 'Meet The Candidates'