Yorkville school board candidates remark on removal of ‘Just Mercy’ at forum

Candidates for Yorkville 115 Board of Education fielded audience questions at Congregational United Church of Christ in Yorkville on Feb. 27.

While questions ranged from teacher retention to larger-capacity schools, eight of the questions revolved around the 2023’s decision by the board to remove the book “Just Mercy” from the high school reading curriculum.

The five candidates vying for two seats in the April 1 election include incumbent Mike Knoll, and challengers Joseph Rand, Julie Hart, Molly Gerke, and Jeanette Norman. Both incumbent Leslie Smogor and incumbent Shawn Schumacher are running unopposed for their Bristol Township seats.

Knoll, who is a physical education teacher, said he helped the board make decisions based on facts, not emotions.

“Having conversations with the community, they want common-sense, conservative leadership, safe schools where students thrive, and effective use of tax dollars,” Knoll said. “They want to make sure the district makes good decisions fiscally.”

Knoll pointed to cell-phone restriction policies, added security details and land purchases for extra capacity space as some of his accomplishments. He was one of the four board members who voted to remove “Just Mercy,” a memoir detailing systemic racial injustices within the American judicial system.

“Board policy says you need to make sure you have an alternative text for students who don’t want to read that book, and there wasn’t an alternative text,” Knoll said. “What turned out is the book wasn’t even vetted properly. The book was just put in by a superintendent, it was an English teacher that wanted the book in the curriculum. It was injected.”

Minutes of the closed-session board meeting, ordered released by the Illinois Attorney General who ruled the session in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act, showed Knoll calling the book too controversial to remain required material.

Introducing herself, Hart, said she was running to help broaden the success opportunities each individual student can pursue.

“I want the teachers to have the resources and support they need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities,” Hart said. “I want to help with the exponential growth Yorkville is going to face. Strong schools build strong communities.”

Hart said all decisions regarding reading materials should be left to teachers and what they believe will best challenge their students.

“The board doesn’t write the curriculum, ‘Just Mercy’ went through the vetting process, through the teachers,” Hart said. “The board’s job is to hire a superintendent, which they did. Dr. Zediker was a great addition. He hires his administration and they hire teachers who work on the curriculum. I’d like Yorkville to make the news for other reasons than removing a book from the curriculum.”

While making his pitch, Rand, who serves as president of the music boosters, said in attending all the board meetings over the past two years, he had the opportunity to hear from administrators, teachers, support staff, parents and students on what the district needs.

“I want to see the teachers get the resources and support they need to help the kids’ success,” Rand said. “I will work tirelessly to make that happen.”

Rand said parents are within their rights to not have their child read a specific book, but they should trust the expertise of the teachers’ guidance.

“I trust if the teachers put the books in the curriculum they’re there for a good reason and teaching appropriately though that,” Rand said. “The book was reviewed by the administration after the first complaint and found it was not in violation of any board policy. I put value in the teachers that put the book in place. It’s kind of kicking the teeth if you’re going against what they have found.”

Greeting the audience, Gerke said her 15 years in special education and substitute teaching gives her the experience to know what is needed in the classroom.

“I will always be a fierce advocate for students, I will always put them first,” Gerke said. “I have good insight into what challenges and rewards come into a classroom. It’s important to share those with people who are making policies and to give teachers and students a voice.”

Regarding “Just Mercy,” Gerke said the policies set by the board must be followed.

“I don’t feel like politics have any business in our school buildings,” Gerke said. “When you teach a controversial subject, you’re going to get parents from both sides. I teach controversial subjects in my English classroom, and we make sure we cover both sides of the subject and let students have debates in the classroom.”

Making her pitch, Norman said her experience in business education, operations management and systems development, makes her qualified to address the needs of the students and community.

“I value transparency and fiscal responsibility,” Norman said. “Having a background in education, in operations, staffing and culture, I can bring varied perspectives and valuable input. I’m excited to dig my feet in and get to work helping our school system as we grow.”

Discussing “Just Mercy,” Norman said the board must always be responsive to the community.

“I’m not going to comment on was it handled right or wrong,” Norman said. “When it comes to a school board, part of the role is to address concerns, that’s an important part of the board’s responsibility.”