2025 Election Questionnaire: Alisa Lindmark, Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education

Name: Alisa Lindmark

What office are you seeking? Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education

What is your political party? I am a Democrat, however, the BoE is nonpartisan

What is your current age? 47

Occupation and employer: Grant Budget Manager, Distinctive Schools and Tax Preparer, Self Employed

What offices, if any, have you previously held? none

City: Hampshire

Campaign Website: no website. Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570048781326

Education: Bachelor of Science Business Administration, Accounting

Enrolled Agent Designation

Community Involvement: Member of the D300’s Parent Advisory Council 2023-2024 Assistant Softball Coach for NWLL 2016-2019

I have volunteered with the Rainbow Troops; LGBTQIA+ Advocacy group and the Hampshire Democrats “Adopt A Highway” clean up days.

Delivered Meals for The Basket Brigade Thanksgiving 2024

If elected, excited to service my community on the Board of Education.

Marital status/Immediate family: I am married and have 2 children that attend D300. A senior at HHS and a special needs 8th grader at HMS.

Questions:

How can the district improve reading and English proficiency and state test scores?

The “District” is a collective of Stakeholders, including educators, students, parents/caregivers, administrators, support staff, unions, the board, and the community. Improving reading and English proficiency requires the combined efforts of all of these groups. Each stakeholder has distinct roles, responsibilities, and requirements in order to achieve success. Test scores are one piece of data that measure the proficiencies.

In a perfect world, teachers would provide engaging and challenging lessons with the assistance from support staff and the support from administration and the School Board. They would feel valued by and their pay and benefits would reflect that value.

Students would come to class ready to learn and not distracted by their cell phones. Instead they would be captivated by the engaging lessons.

Parents would join the team by supporting their students and encouraging success and holding them accountable when necessary. Parents work collaboratively with their students and their teachers to provide and receive support as needed.

Administration, support staff, union representatives, and the board of education work together to meet the needs of each other, as well as the students, teachers, and parents.

If any one of these parties fails to fulfill their responsibilities, the entire district suffers. It is essential that stakeholders can engage in difficult conversations, accept accountability, and recognize areas the need improvements. They also need to collaborate on action steps once needs have been identified. This is vital to the district’s success.

If you have children, do they or did they attend public school and was that for all of their K-12 school years?

My husband and I are both college graduates who attended public schools for K-12.

Our daughter is a senior. Will be announcing her plans for the fall after having been accepted to all 5 colleges/universities she applies to. She attended Preschool with the park district and K-12 in public schools.

Our son is in his last year of middle school. He has been receiving special education services through public schools since starting preschool at age 3. He started therapies with early intervention at the age of 2.

What do you see as the school district’s role in deciding what materials should be available in the library and in curricula?

I don’t believe in banning books and I don’t believe there is such a thing as an inappropriate book, just an inappropriate audience. It is the school district’s role to provide age appropriate materials in their libraries and curricula.

Most of local residents' property taxes go to their school districts. Are taxes paid to your school district too high? What would you do to protect the interests of taxpayers?

I am going to repeat a phrase I heard a lot growing up, that I feel is still relevant today. “You get what you pay for.” To me that means the least expensive way is not necessarily the least costly way. My husband and I have been paying real estate taxes for over 20 years and I do believe that we have received a fair return on our investment. If elected, I will continue to look at ways to minimize costs without jeopardizing the value.

Should Title IX cover sexual orientation or gender identity? What are your views on the use of locker rooms and bathrooms by transgender students and their participating in sports?

I think there are a few people who spend entirely too much time worrying about who is using which bathroom. As the parent of a special needs child with an intellectual disability, if I was given a choice between my child using the restroom with a transgender student or a cis gender student, I am going to go with the transgender student every time. I have never heard of any transgender students being in appropriate with their peers in the restrooms or locker rooms, but I have heard plenty of stories involving cisgender student harassing their peers in both the restrooms and locker rooms. Some involving my own child.

What is your stance on ICE agents accessing school grounds, and what policies would you advocate for regarding their presence on school property?

I do not agree with ICE Agents coming to schools. Children are there to learn and learning cannot take place in spaces that promote trauma. I would follow the state laws regarding the matter, but would advocate for the policies that support a safe learning environment.

What are the top three issues that the school district is facing right now?

1.What happens if the Department of Education is closed?

2. Navigating the current teacher shortage.

3. Recovering from COVID learning loss.

What is your position on allowing students to use cell phones during school hours?

I think students should be allowed to carry their cell phones on them, so long as they are not used during class time. The district gives each child a Chromebook, so there is no need for a cell phone for educational purposes throughout the day. A cell phone would be permitted to be used only before and afterschool, free periods, and/or during an emergency.

Do you think cell phone policies should allow exceptions for emergencies or specific educational purposes? If so, how would these exceptions be defined?

Not needed for educational purposes as they have Chromebooks for that.. emergencies, yes, but as I told my own student. I would rather they be listening to the adult if present and doing what they have practiced during code red drills. I have never received a phone call during a code red drills, so I am fairly certain that is not what they practice. I think cell phones are needed for coordinating rides and other responsibilities before and after school. Unless pay phones are going to be re-installed they need some way to be able to communicate with their parents/caregivers.

What steps would you take to address concerns about cyberbullying and inappropriate content access through student cell phones?

I feel policies need hold the students and their parents/guardians accountable for cyberbullying and inappropriate content accessed through their cell phones. If it involves the school district I support a tiered level of discipline with repeated offenders eventually being expelled or transferred to an alternative program. It is unfortunate that cell phones provide bullies 24/7 access to their victims. It is important to teach and advocate healthy relationships both in person and virtually for our students. Social and emotional learning and mental health resources are important tools in this work

Should students be able to use AI in schoolwork?

I think there is a time and place for AI, but in creating critical thinkers it offers very little.

What is your plan for making district financial reports, including budgets and expenditures, publicly available and easy to understand?

This is already happening in D300. I will continue to support the finance department in providing this transparency. The financials are available online and the Department reports regularly at board meetings.

How would you involve parents and community members in the decision-making process for curriculum or policy changes?

I would love to see the Parent Advisory Counsel brought back in come capacity. I do think they would be beneficial at both the district and the school levels. Fostering more opportunities for parents to be more engaged in the process.

What is your position on banning books in school libraries or classrooms, and how do you define the criteria for such decisions?

I do not believe in banning books. I believe there is common sense criteria used to determine what books are appropriate for each age group and reading level. As a parent, I am more worried about if my child is reading than what they are reading. I am confident in my parenting abilities to be able to discuss any topic they explore.

How would you balance maintaining appropriate class sizes with the current teacher staffing levels?

If you are going to increase the class sizes, then the number of staff needs to increase as well. Exploring larger classes with additional support staff might be something to consider while we continue to find ways to recruit new teachers.

Offering assistance in obtaining the credentials current D300 support staff would need to become licensed teachers could be another way to promote from within.

Do you believe the district is allocating enough resources toward hiring and supporting teachers, and if not, what changes would you make?

I think the real question is does society allocate enough resources towards hiring and supporting teachers? And the answer is no, society as a whole places more value on a professional athlete then they do on educating our children. If it was solely up to me, there would be enough resources to provide teachers a way of life that is worthy their contributions. In the meantime, I think it is important to show our teachers we value their contributions by being good team members in the work.

How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?

I can be reached by email or via me face book account. Happy to grab a coffee and chat too.