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Name:
Emmanuel Thomas
What office are you seeking?
District 300 Board of Education
What is your political party?
Democratic
What is your current age?
54
Occupation and employer:
Human Resources Veteran Affairs
What offices, if any, have you previously held?
Incumbent District 300 board of education
City:
Campaign Website:
Candidate did not respond.
Education:
Masters degree Education, specializing in curriculum
Masters degree Organizational and Leadership management
Bachelors Criminal Justice
Community Involvement:
Mentor for middle school
Marital status/Immediate family:
Married
Debi - wife name
4 children
Questions:
How can the district improve reading and English proficiency and state test scores?
District 300 can doing the following to improve reading, English proficiencies and state test scores.
Adopt a research-based literacy curriculum that increases foundational reading skills like phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Closely monitor students progress with frequent assessments, differentiating instruction to meet individual students.
Create an environment for the love of reading through classroom libraries and engaging texts, and partnering with parents to support literacy at home.
If you have children, do they or did they attend public school and was that for all of their K-12 school years?
Yes, I have children and all four of them attending public schools K-12
What do you see as the school district’s role in deciding what materials should be available in the library and in curricula?
A school district’s primary role in deciding what materials should be available in the library and curriculum is to establish overall guidelines and polices for selection. Delegating the final decision-making to administrators and teachers in the district. Training librarians and teachers, while maintaining the authority to review and approve materials.
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?
It is important to keep property taxes low in our school district. I don’t think that the school taxes are too high. District 300 financial team does a great job of getting money from other sources to minimize high taxes.
Most of the COVID relief money from the federal government is coming to an end. What spending adjustments does your school district need to make to address that?
District 300 financial team has already made adjustments to address the reduction in COVID relief funds.
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?
Students have a choice on which gender they identify with. Locker rooms and bathrooms should be made available for them to use. No student should be discriminated against due to their gender identity.
What is your stance on ICE agents accessing school grounds, and what policies would you advocate for regarding their presence on school property?
Preemptively plan how school personnel should respond in the event of an encounter from ICE. The plan may include:
- Identify which areas of the school are designated as “public areas” and which areas are designated as “non-public areas.” ICE agents cannot enter a “non-public area” without consent or a judicial warrant. For further information on the differences between various warrants and subpoenas, please see “Verifying documents presented by ICE” section further below.
- Designate a point person who is trained to manage encounters with ICE. The individual should be well versed in the school’s protocols for handling ICE encounters and serve as the primary contact for school personnel. Additionally, the point-person should promptly notify the school’s legal counsel upon ICE’s arrival.
- Designate any other individuals who should be contacted (point-person in leadership, legal counsel, or parents/guardians).
- Determine how school personnel should react and manage interactions with ICE agents.
- Establish steps school personnel should take to ensure student safety.
What are the top three issues that the school district is facing right now?
Bullying in person and online
Student racial encounters
Students readiness for next level of education including being prepared for college of life after high school.
What is your position on allowing students to use cell phones during school hours?
No student should be using a cell phone during school hours. If there is an emergency, teachers could accommodate the situation.
Do you think cell phone policies should allow exceptions for emergencies or specific educational purposes? If so, how would these exceptions be defined?
Yes. Family emergencies. Medication reminders.
What steps would you take to address concerns about cyberbullying and inappropriate content access through student cell phones?
- Manage privacy settings online.
- Protect your passwords.
- Keep clear records.
- Don’t respond or retaliate.
- Block cyberbullies via user settings.
- Report cyberbullying to site admins.
- Stay safe online.
- Show the message to parent, teacher or resource officer.
- Create a new account. Report to CyberTip.org.
Should students be able to use AI in schoolwork?
No
What is your plan for making district financial reports, including budgets and expenditures, publicly available and easy to understand?
Publish budget early and often thought the school year.
Incorporate charts and graphs to help people understand.
Include a budget narrative that explains how the money will be spent.
Transparency is important. Report everything, both positive and negative, in a thorough and accurate way.
Make the budget available online with a portal that includes visuals, infographics and summaries.
How would you involve parents and community members in the decision-making process for curriculum or policy changes?
Have dedicated committees or forums, conduct surveys and focus groups. Hold open meetings and information sessions, encourage feedback through online platforms. Actively seek input from diverse community groups to ensure representation and valuable perspectives are considered.
What is your position on banning books in school libraries or classrooms, and how do you define the criteria for such decisions?
Typically based on perceived inappropriate themes like explicit sexual content, graphic violence, offensive language or viewpoints that contradict community standards, but legally, such decisions should primarily be based on “educational suitability” rather than simply disagreement with the ideas presented, considering factors like age appropriateness and potential harm to students
How would you balance maintaining appropriate class sizes with the current teacher staffing levels?
Balancing class sizes and current teaching staff is important. There should be no more than 12-16 students per teacher unless the teacher has an assistant. Adding more classrooms would allow for proper class and teacher ratio.
Do you believe the district is allocating enough resources toward hiring and supporting teachers, and if not, what changes would you make?
There should be more resources allocating to recruiting the right teacher for our community. Having more hiring events virtually or in person is key.
How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?
I make myself available via email and twice a month for my constituents. I respond to every email that sent to me. If a constituents want me to call them back or meet with them I make myself available.