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Name:
Dana Wiley
What office are you seeking?
D158 Board of Education
What is your political party?
Not Applicable. This is a non-partisan role.
What is your current age?
55
Occupation and employer:
Senior Proposal Manager for a global Insurtech firm.
What offices, if any, have you previously held?
• McHenry County Board of Education Trustee 22-23
• D158 Board of Education 11/23 - present
City:
Campaign Website:
Education:
BS- Political Science, Minor in Women’s Studies from DePaul University, Chicago, IL
AA- Liberal Arts from College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL
Community Involvement:
While working full-time outside the home, I have also been heavily involved in our community for the past 17 years. As our children grew up I found ways to stay involved through various school and community efforts. Most recently, in November 2023 I was appointed fill a vacancy on the D158 Board of Education, where I currently serve as a member. I have been active in the following groups:
• Chesak Martin PTA President
• Chesak Martin PTA Family Events Chairperson
• D158 Strategic Planning Committee
• D158 Parent Teacher Advisory Committee (PTAC)
• D158 Multicultural Parent Advisory Committee (MPAC)
• D158 Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC)
• Girls on the Run Coach
• St. Mary’s Catholic Church Religious Education Program
• Huntley Mustangs Youth Football Fundraising Chair
• Huntley Youth Lacrosse Volunteer
• HHS Athletic Boosters Concession Chair
• HHS Varsity Football Volunteer
• My Sisters Dress Volunteer
Marital status/Immediate family:
My husband Tom and I have been married for 27 years, and we have raised all three of our children in D158, from ECC through HHS.
Our oldest son graduated from HHS in 2021 and currently attends University of Iowa. He will graduate with a double major in Accounting & Finance in December 2025. Our middle son graduated from HHS in 2023; he currently attends University of Missouri working towards a degree in Secondary Education. Our youngest daughter is currently a junior at HHS and is involved in the medical academy and recently completed a dual degree CNA program at MCC this fall. We cannot prouder of our three kids- they are the reason for all that we do. We know the education and experiences they had here in D158 is what prepared them for their future goals.
Questions:
Would you make any changes to the district’s medication policy?
All districts and schools need to have policies and plans in place for safe, effective, and efficient administration of medications at school, as well as having full-time licensed registered nurses on staff. Part of our goal as school board members is to ensure we follow those policies. Our policy requires parental consent for the exchange of information between the parent, school nurse, and prescriber for clarification on the medication. I am proud that D158 follows these basic guidelines.
As more chronically ill and/or medically stabled children attend our schools each year, I believe our staff needs to be aware of factors that can safely support students’ academic success. That includes the need for medications that compliment a student’s overall health or help to stabilize a chronic condition they may have.
If changes to medication policies need to be addressed, I would look for guidance and insight to be provided to the school board on reasons why we need a policy change, and the cost/benefit to students, staff, and families, as well as the benefit to the community as a whole.
How can the district improve reading and English proficiency and state test scores?
While D158 is leading in our EL scores and proficiency metrics, we still lag behind other states, and we still have work to do. We need to acknowledge that those other state have students that are the ones our students will be competing against to gain college admission or employment. It is not enough for us to lead in our county or state- we need to lead nationwide. We need to set the bar, and have others try to reach our standard of excellence. Over the past two years our district has acknowledged the direct result school lockdowns had on students and staff in terms of learning loss in 2020 and 2021. Admitting this has helped us move forward in a positive, as opposed to punitive, manner.
Lowing the bar on testing is not the answer, but sadly that is what IL did when it switched from SAT to ACT this past school year. Watering down standards will not help grow the learners we need for our future. I firmly believe test scores do not paint the full picture of a student and their success. However, tests are needed in all facets of our life, whether that be in education, in a job, in the military, or to even get a driver’s license. Reading allows people to be more confident to pass those tests and achieve their goals – whatever they may be. If we make students more confident in their reading skills we will see success on tests. But we have placed a such huge amount of weight on tests as the only measure of a student’s success or failure, without the foundation to allow them to actually succeed.
Our district has so many excellent teachers, resources, and tools that can help us be successful in addressing the gaps. Our district needs to continue commitment to a curriculum and hold the line to make it work. We can’t keep switching curriculum as we did in the past for the sake of the next brighter, shiner option. That causes confusion and inconsistency for students, staff and parents.
But the work doesn’t just end in the classroom. Our students need support at home as well. We shifted in recent years to making classrooms the only areas for learning, removing parents from the classroom. I think a return to engaging parents to carry the learning home provides students more consistency and makes parents feel more accountable for their students’ learning activities. It does take a village, and that is partnership between student, staff and parents.
We need our teachers to have the time to focus their classrooms on reading strategies and skills, and build comprehension across the district, and in age-appropriate manners. We then equip parents with tools to make sure reading and comprehension is being supported at home to ensure consistency.
Our ESL students are the ones most at risk of falling behind, and we need to give their parents support too at home so they can support their students ESL skills. I would support a program that would provide ESL parents classes held at our schools, perhaps in partnership with MCC, so parents and student are learning at the same time- and can have the same success.
If you have children, do they or did they attend public school and was that for all of their K-12 school years?
As mentioned, we have had all three (3) of our children go through D158, from ECC through high school. We have been proud to see them all really enjoy their time in D158 in their own individual ways.
What do you see as the school district’s role in deciding what materials should be available in the library and in curricula?
I know firsthand our D158 curriculum department works hard to ensure that students have materials needed to thrive in our district. If questions are brought up by parents, they are addressed in a collaborative manner by the school administrators and/or district office staff and the parents. We do not need to operate in a silo, nor does D158.
I believe materials made available to public school students need to be age appropriate, and that parents have the right to know what materials are being offered to their students. For example, the class syllabus or overview should be made available to parents for them to review upon the start of the semester. If questions arise, parents should feel comfortable asking questions to the teacher or school administrators.
If a school lesson is deemed by a parent to not be appropriate for their own student, that parent should have the ability to opt their student out of the lesson and be provided an alternative lesson by the school for their student.
Parents should also have the ability to review classroom curriculum and materials and ask questions to staff on how the lesson will be taught, and how the materials will be used. And like I mentioned above for lessons, if the material is deemed by a parent to not be appropriate for their own student, that parent should have the ability to opt their student out of the material and be provided alternative materials by the school for their student.
These conversations between parent and the school, and their student, is how we build those partnerships between parents and schools that will only benefit students.
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?
No one wants to pay taxes, but living in IL, it is a reality. Sixty percent of our local taxes do go towards school districts, so taxpayers need to be aware of the spending and we as a taxing body need to be transparent. A promise made by some candidates in 2022 was to no longer be the highest taxed district in McHenry County. That promise was honored- we are no longer the highest taxed school district. When I was appointed to the board the previous year’s tax rate was $5.08 per 1000, with this year’s levy it is approximately $4.40 per 1000. I feel that is very good progress in just two years.
As a member of the current school board, I have looked closely at how we tax and how we spend money, paying special attention to making sure we increase spending into the classrooms to benefit the students. For example:
1. Our current Superintendent eliminated her previous position at the district office (which was the 3rd highest paid in D158) upon her appointment to Superintendent.
2. Decisions were made when cabinet members resigned to not replace them and instead provided lower salary positions as resources to support the remaining cabinet.
3. Every position now that is vacated (via resignation, retirement, etc.) is reviewed by a team, to determine if the role needs to be filled.
4. HEA contract negotiations commenced in late 2023. It was clear that D158 was paying far less for teachers than neighboring districts. This was causing increased staff turnover, and with such low entry level pay we were having problems recruiting new talent.
a. A new contract was negotiated with the purpose to put dollars into the classroom. That did require us to have a tax levy in FY24-25 just under 4%- but it was a tradeoff we felt was needed to stop the bleed on our staffing. Turnover has dropped significantly and is approaching what it was in 2019. School morale is also up across the district.
5. We are in the process of having demographic studies done by a respected third party to address population projections and the impact it may have on declining enrollment and ongoing staffing needs, as well as how to best use our current building space.
6. We looked for a long-term sustainable rate for increases to existing homeowners, we believe 2% is a target for tax increases each year. The budget submitted to the board from district office had costs in line with this target but the revenue of was at the highest level of PTELL allowed. I requested options for the budget to demonstrate our ability o operate with less, as opposed to “leaving money on the table”. Ultimately, I did vote to lower successfully the budget to have a lower level of revenue (taxes) to match the 2% target. This is what I feel is a fiscally conservative approach for our district.
7. I have challenged and rejected high-cost expenses and requested the district go back to renegotiate contract terms to put us in more favorable financial places.
8. I have been involved in the healthcare committee looking into how to better control and mitigate our increased healthcare costs. I have requested the district look for options to keep the quality of our healthcare to our members but look to lower the cost to the district. This may be done by investigating approaches such as looking for different providers or joining a healthcare insurance pool with other school districts.
9. We approved discussions to be held in 2025 with the villages of Huntley and Algonquin in to address concerns that new construction impact fees have been held flat for many years despite new construction growth in both villages that directly impact our school district.
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?
To be honest, I am more concerned about the state of Illinois funding for school districts, especially for this upcoming budget year. As Illinois faces a multi-billion-dollar deficit, that is a bigger impact to us as a school district than any Federal funding, or lack thereof.
We need to continue to question expenses and be good stewards of our taxpayer money. We need to work diligently with vendors to ensure we are getting the best prices. We will look to our CFO to research every opportunity for savings we can find and offer us alternative approaches for funding. It is important for us to complete and review the population and demographic study data (a study we recently approved) so we can determine affects financially to our staffing, buildings, and infrastructure needs going forward. We need to look at data to drive our decisions and engage RFPs to ensure we are getting the best bang for our buck.
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?
Title IX changes were recently rolled back and that reversed rewrites that occurred in the last four years. We are obligated to follow the current administration policy. Our current school board policy provides guidelines for the use of restrooms and locker rooms by all students that are aligned with State of IL Human Rights Act. If the school policy needs to be revisited or amended, it needs to be done in a methodical and proper manner.
My concern on the use of restrooms actually extends to all students feeling safe to use them at school. I have heard many times, from students and staff that students will not use the restrooms at our middle and high schools because of safety issues. They worry about fights occurring in the restrooms and a lack of adults to intervene. Vaping, drugs, and alcohol use are more prevalent in the high school, and student do not use the restrooms at the school because they do not want to be put in a place where they could be affiliated with these behaviors. I frequently hear and witness students at the high school leave the campus during their free periods to go home or drive to places along Rt 47 so they can use restrooms at restaurants there, just so they do not have to use the ones at the school. What a horrible inconvenience and what a shame students cannot feel safe in the school restrooms. This is an issue that has been going on for years and is not being taken seriously by the school administrators to get under control. We are supposed to follow the “All Students Always” motto, and in this instance that is not being done well.
In regard to sports participation, both IHSA and IESA provide guidance for transgender student participation. There are many requirements a transgender student would need to meet in order for IHSA/IESA to approve the deviation to another gender sport. Per local news reports recently, there are over 300,000 high school athletes in Illinois, and only 3 students have ever been grated such a waiver. We would work with IHSA and IESA if such a situation came up in D158.
What is your stance on ICE agents accessing school grounds, and what policies would you advocate for regarding their presence on school property?
Illinois and McHenry County are following federal and state law with regards to ICE in public schools. Schools need to be safe for all students and staff, and I would not appreciate the presence of agents in our learning environment causing disruption to our school day. However, if there was a risk to students or staff because of a violent presence on school grounds, the apprehension of the suspect would need to be done to ensure the safety of our students and staff members.
What are the top three issues that the school district is facing right now?
1. Addressing ongoing academic decline.
2. Planning for enrollment decreases.
3. Succession planning for district office staff, school administrators, and district leadership.
What is your position on allowing students to use cell phones during school hours?
I fully support the limited use of cells phones by students during school hours. Our board is currently enforcing the limited use of cell phones during the school day. Students are required to put them out of sight during class time. It is a distraction during the class time, unless it is part of the lesson being taught. Being on phones during class undermines the teacher’s lesson planning time and takes away valuable time to develop interpersonal skills in class with peers.
Do you think cell phone policies should allow exceptions for emergencies or specific educational purposes? If so, how would these exceptions be defined?
As I mentioned above, unless use of the phone is part of the lesson being taught, they should not be in sight of the student. Emergencies are best handled by the school staff and proper authorities. If an emergency was to occur in a school, students would be far safer not on their phones and allow law authorities and school staff to implement their emergency response measures without distractions caused by phones.
What steps would you take to address concerns about cyberbullying and inappropriate content access through student cell phones?
Our current board policy addresses cyberbullying and inappropriate content being accessed on student cell phones during the school day and on school property. Violations are handled by the administration and district office. As a district we do need to enforce zero tolerance with all students uniformly. My concern is more focused on accessing inappropriate content on school issued devices, which is happening. This is a concern that has been brought up by many parents over the last few years, and we have yet to have clarification on how this occurs, and what needs to be done to prevent it. I fully support this as a priority for our IT Department in 2025 to determine how to monitor and control access on school issued devices.
I also have concerns on the growing changes that are happening with cyberbullying. It is no longer just mean comments or pictures being sent. There are now documented cases of AI generated images becoming viral posts that undermine a safe school setting. We need to get ahead of AI and understand what is going on now and prepare for the future to best address those items in our policy going forward. We need to be proactive and not reactive.
Should students be able to use AI in schoolwork?
AI is here and students know how to use it far more than adults. Adults and our district need to be educated on the proper and thoughtful use of AI to complement learning, not replace learning or replace independent thought. As with all technology, there is great potential to harness it wisely in education. I appreciate that D158 is currently looking into how to engage it best for our students, and how to develop consequences when it is not being used properly.
I attended a Kishwaukee Valley ISBA session last year, and attended sessions at our ISBA conference this fall that discussed the meaningful use of AI in education. Those sessions, coupled with my on-the-job use of AI, help guide me with knowledge as we navigate using this tool going forward in our school setting.
What is your plan for making district financial reports, including budgets and expenditures, publicly available and easy to understand?
Our district makes all financial reports available to the public in our monthly agenda documents, and they are published online prior to meetings and retained for future viewing when needed. If further details are needed, our district already supports FOIA requests that can provide information as permitted by law.
I would support making the reports more “user friendly” and presenting it in a more meaningful way to the average reader (people that may not have a deep finance background). The use of charts and graphics on a district dashboard could also aid in presenting the information to the public and allow people to filter information they wish to see on the dashboard. Given our new website project this past year, this would be another capability that I support.
How would you involve parents and community members in the decision-making process for curriculum or policy changes?
I support continuation of the D158 Curriculum Meetings we currently hold that allow parents and community members to actively participate in curriculum discussions and decisions being made by the district and board. I also support continuation of the Parent Teacher Advisory Committee we currently have that allow parents and staff to learn about policy changes when needed. There is ownership by parents now in our district policies that was not there before, and it is refreshing and welcome to have input now from people that traditionally did not feel that had the opportunity for their voice to be heard.
I also have been advocating to have a student voice on the school board to better understand the needs of our students and have their input. Older students in MS and HS could lend a voice that is missing right now. What a great way to identify those student leaders and maybe help prepare them for an elected board role on day in the future.
What is your position on banning books in school libraries or classrooms, and how do you define the criteria for such decisions?
Our district needs to always consider that materials need to be age appropriate for students. What is permitted in elementary schools should differ from what is available for young adults in high school. That is a very different perspective than banning books.
How would you balance maintaining appropriate class sizes with the current teacher staffing levels?
Our HEA contract stipulates classroom size limits for teachers across the district. I support adhering to those contract terms, and we are well below those limits. We keep those numbers in mind when we offer classes and when we need to limit student electives at the MS and HS.
There is a general misconception that our D158 schools are over capacity, that is just simply not true. While we may have new homes being built, those homes are being priced so high that they are not attracting buyers that are adding significantly to our enrollment. We do not have the enrollment increases like we did in the early 2000’s.
Our current kindergarten enrollment is down, almost by half of what it is for our class of 2025. The population and demographic study we have approved recently will be able to shed light on what staffing needs may look like in the near and long term and based on that we will have to have serious conversations on classroom size and the best use of district and school space.
Do you believe the district is allocating enough resources toward hiring and supporting teachers, and if not, what changes would you make?
As mentioned above, D158 had historically been one of the lowest paying districts in McHenry County. With our current HEA contract that is no longer the case, and we are putting more funds into the classroom by hiring the right teachers for our students. Our PD efforts to support teachers has also been well received and fine-tuned. As education changes, we need to continue to allow for teachers to have PD opportunities. We took advantage of a state grant which allows us to offer additional training to current teachers and also help hire hard to fill spots in teaching. We will look forward to further discussions with our non-certified staff leadership as we move into HESPA negotiations in 2025.
How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?
In the year I have been on the board I have always made time for people that want to talk to discuss concerns or give their insights into this affecting our district. In the time I have been on the board I have responded to emails and then met with concerned citizens about issues. I am very approachable and make sure I go to many functions held by the district so people can meet me and introduce themselves to me and bend my ear if needed. My school board role does not start and end with just the meetings twice a month. It’s a commitment I make and honor deeply for the good of our district. I look forward to continuing to learn from the community, students, staff and parents.