Candidates discuss COVID restrictions, overcrowding, sex education
All six candidates running for Homer Elementary District 33C Board agree it is time to move past the COVID-19 pandemic, but some candidates said the effect of the pandemic on schools is one of the reasons they are running for office.
Challenger Nicholas Kolliniatis said he feels the Illinois State Board of Education and Gov. J.B. Pritzker overstepped their authority when issuing COVID-19 mandates, and he helped fund attorney Thomas Devore’s lawsuit against masks mandates in schools. He said children were “powerless” during the pandemic.
“I would have handled the COVID situation differently,” Kolliniatis said. “At the end of the day parents and their doctors are going to make the best decisions for their kids, not us.”
Challenger David Ondyak said he was also against children being masked in schools.
“The mask — it didn’t add anything to the learning aspect of the children,” Ondyak said. “When you have a mask on, it impedes the ability for a teacher and a student to communicate with each other visually. It’s unacceptable behavior in a class setting. … It’s absurd what happened, and I won’t stand for this type of behavior going forward.”
Kolliniatis and Ondyak along with Lawrence Vacala are challenging incumbent board members Elizabeth Hitzeman, Debra Martin and Christopher Trzeciak for three four-year terms for the District 33C Board. The district serves about 3,600 students in six schools from preschool to eighth grade.
Election Day is April 4, but early voting is underway.
Martin, a second grade teacher in Joliet School District 86, is board president and has been a board member since 2003. Hitzeman, a retired educator, has been a board member since 2015. Trzeciak, a board member since 2019, was on the Evergreen Park High School District 231 Board for two terms before moving to Homer Glen.
The challengers are endorsed by the Homer Township Republican Organization and We the Parents Illinois, which are endorsing challengers to several school board incumbents in races in Homer Glen, Lockport and Crest Hill. We the Parents says on its website it started as a small group of parents who got together “in response to a loss of control in our children’s education.”
Hitzeman said the pandemic was unprecedented and difficult for everyone. The district had many concerns, including whether there would be enough bus drivers and what the board could legally do under the state mandates and how it affected its insurance coverage.
Trzeciak said the district should move past the pandemic, but “it would be a mistake for us not to reflect on how we managed it if something like this were to happen again.”
Martin said the district continues to monitor and address gaps in learning due to the pandemic as well as supporting students both socially and emotionally.
Top issues
The three incumbents District 33C faces overcrowding and the move to a grade center model in the 2023-2024 school year should help alleviate some space concerns and equalize class sizes.
Trzeciak said many teachers have to make creative use of the facilities by teaching from carts or in hallways or converting closets into offices.
Hitzeman said space needs are being evaluated at Hadley Middle School and Homer Junior High as well as funding options.
“The classroom space and growth continues to be one of the foremost issues the board is dealing with,” she said.
Vacala, a lieutenant with the Downers Grove Police Department, said in addition to overcrowding, security is one his top concerns.
“This doesn’t stop at the schools themselves,” Vacala said. “We need to secure our buses as well as school events, sporting events, etc.”
Students should also continue to be educated about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, including fentanyl, Vacala said.
Kolliniatis, a high school science teacher, said he would like to address the teacher shortage.
“What are we doing to retain our teachers? What are we doing to attract new teachers?” Kolliniatis said. “Attracting the best teachers to come and stay in this district is a problem that I foresee and think we need to address.”
Taxes
The three incumbents said they operate a balanced budget, look for grants to offset costs, are as frugal as possible and their schools are ranked commendable or exemplary on the Illinois Report Card.
“We always look for ways to cut down those expenditures by filing for grants,” Martin said. “What we do with what we have is quite a lot. I don’t know how you tell teachers, students that we are going to cut the budget. We have a balanced budget and it is a responsible budget.”
Trzeciak, who works in the financial services industry for a Fortune 100 company, said he understands that the tax bill can be a hardship to residents, especially those who don’t have students in the district.
“We have a responsibility to educate these kids,” Trzeciak said. “We have a responsibility to give them everything that we can, and I’m not going to sit here and say it is free. It’s not. I wish it was. I wish money was not a concern. It is. We have to try to spend that money as responsibly as possible, as transparently as possible.”
Vacala said the board needs to do a better job explaining the tax levy to the community, how it works and what the money is being usedfor.
“I think it just needs to be a little bit more clear to residents why there is such a high number on the tax levy,” Vacala said.
Ondyak, who works in marketing for engineering technology, said when the schools are strong, it will draw more residents and businesses into the community, and bring more taxes into the community.
“Let’s grow Homer Glen through our school system, and let’s spread the word how great 33C is so we draw more people to the community,” Ondyak said.
Parental responsibilities
All six candidates agreed open and transparent communication is necessary from its school board, and that the board should listen to parents.
“There’s always going to be two sides or more sometimes to every issue that we have to deal with,” Trzeciak said. “I think it’s important we keep those chains of communication open. People have to feel like they are being heard.”
Vacala said education starts at home and parents need to be included in all decisions related to their children from curriculum to health care.
“The public school system should not be in the business of raising our children,” Vacala said. “This should be a partnership. The parents should be allowed to question the administration and the school board without ridicule and be actually listened to. Politic bias and the beliefs of the teachers should also not be brought into our classrooms.”
He said meet and greets with school board members should not end after the election, but proposes events such as coffees where parents and the school board could meet in an informal setting.
Ondyak said the “dialogue about woke should be left up to the parents.”
“Teachers are to teach the curriculum,” he said.
Kolliniatis said teachers have enough to teach with the core topics.
Hitzeman said sex education as requested by the governor is not appropriate for the children and believes parents should have the conversation with their children about sensitive topics.
“Let schools focus on schools, let parents be parents, and everything in between that’s a conversation that has to happen between parents and the schools,” Trzeciak said.
Martin said the administration approves an appropriate curriculum. Parents have the right to view the curriculum and opt their children out of what they may disagree with, she said.