High School District 155 candidates address district finances, potential federal cuts

Four of the seven candidates running for Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 board answered questions on their views, including how they would handle possible federal funding cuts, at a recent forum.

Nicole Pavoris, David Jenkins, Walter Moist and Ryan Olson participated in the candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of McHenry County Thursday at McHenry County College.

Mark Pils, Dawn Bivona and Elizabeth Lund did not appear at the forum.

There are four seats up for election.

League member Mary Finch moderated with prepared questions and those from the audience. A question was asked: “What actions would you take to mitigate the loss of federal funds to programs?”

Olson said it would be a tough call since there is so much uncertainty surrounding the cuts, but he said he imagines it would affect the “most vulnerable populations.”

“There’s something called maintenance of efforts,” Olson said. “You have to be able to spend the same amount from one year to the next on your special ed population. And if you spend less one year than you did the previous year, then you have to explain that to the government. ‘Why did you spend less?’ So, I think there’s lots of different factors at play.”

Moist said he would like to see the district partner with nonprofits and local unions to provide opportunities and apprenticeships for students.

“My concern is the impact of disadvantaged and marginalized communities and how do we make up for that,” he said. “So my thought process is we’re building the public-private partnerships.”

Pavoris, an incumbent, said the federal funding portion of the district’s budget is small and the district’s financial department is already is looking into how it would be affected. The district will continue to partner with organizations and already has 85 industry partners with the micro-internship program, she said.

“I do think whatever course of action is taken, it’s always good to remember that we will do whatever is best for the D-155 students,” Pavoris said.

Jenkins sees using “rainy day funds” as a possible solution, but ultimately would want to look at multiple ideas from the board and vote on it.

“That would be a perfect time to use some of that extra funds to make sure we survive that transition,” he said.

Olson also identified the potential loss of federal funds as the greatest challenge the district is facing.

“We have Title I funds for students that come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds; we have the IDEA Funds which is for students for special needs,” he said. “To me if those funds go away, districts would have to look, obviously, for other means to try to help compensate for that.”

Jenkins pointed out the teacher shortage as a major challenge that is leading to teacher burnout.

“We do see it across the country and I think we need to provide an environment where teaching is joyful again and learning is joyful again,” he said.

For Pavoris, an increase in mental health crises is her biggest concern.

“I feel that across the board, that is the biggest challenge facing education today,” she said. “We’ve done a really good job trying to manage that and seek out the kids or make sure we’re ahead of the processes and making sure they are getting the help that they need.”

Moist identified the challenge “of building and progressing into the future” in terms of technology and cultural changes.

“Infrastructure to remove a lot of the social discourse that’s in the conversation today for safety and security of students whether it be gender-neutral bathrooms with stalls that go all the way down to the ground,” he said.

All four candidates agreed on topics such as supporting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and not supporting the idea of book bans.

Other candidates may be at the next forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of McHenry County at 10:30 a.m. March 15 at Ridgefield Presbyterian Church, at 8505 Church St., Crystal Lake.

Early voting starts March 17 and Election Day is April 1. For more information on where and how to vote, visit mchenrycountyil.gov/departments/county-clerk/elections.