BECKY PEREZ

candidate for 2025 OAK PARK District 97 School Board

Becky Perez has not submitted answers to the Activist Toolkit questionnaire.

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1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills do you bring to the office? What sets you apart from other candidates? What does success look like for you after four years in the position?

2. What do you see as the three biggest challenges or opportunities facing the Village in and what role do you see the Board playing to address them over the next four years? 


3. What is your decision making process? What are steps the Board can take to ensure transparency, clear communication, and robust community engagement to ensure that it is hearing from the broad spectrum of families about their experiences of the schools, and the full range of District 97’s constituents? 


4. Please share your thoughts about District 97’s current financial picture. What is your understanding of the Board’s role in the budgeting process and the allocation of resources? Do you have organizational finance experience?


5. What would you say to voters who are worried about Oak Park’s overall tax burden? 


6. How will you work to ensure that District 97 provides an excellent educational experience for each student? What will success look like? Please share your thoughts about equity.


7. Special education is required by federal law. How can District 97 better work to provide an excellent education for students in need of special education?


8. How should the District assess its policies and progress with respect to the racial disparities in its learning outcomes? What contributions will you make to the Board’s discussions on this issue?


9. Do you see a role for the Board in ensuring that District 97 schools are welcoming and safe for students in minority populations, whether immigrant, LGBTQ+, racial, religious identity, etc.? Please explain and describe specific actions or policies you would propose. Have recent discussions in the larger community or at the national level informed or changed your thinking?


10. How should District 97 handle the question around the removal of books from library and classroom shelves, curriculum and other instructional tools if community members deem the content to be inappropriate, too controversial or objectionable?


11. What is your vision for a safe school environment?  Please address cell phone use, physical altercations, and bullying. What specific policies or actions do you believe the Board should promote?


12. Researchers continue to report that significant numbers of students experience poor mental health. Many students seriously consider attempting suicide and a subset of these students attempt suicide. What can D200 do to address this trend? 


13. Morale amongst teachers, administrators, and paraprofessional staff, frequent turnover and changes in curriculum, and increases in student needs have challenged schools across the nation and in District 97. What’s the Board’s role in helping to address these issues?


14. What approach should District 97 take towards local intergovernmental cooperation initiatives such as the Collaboration for Early Childhood? Are there other specific initiatives that you would like to implement or expand upon with other local and or regional governing bodies, and nonprofits?


15. The School Board’s primary responsibility is oversight of the Superintendent.  What criteria do you believe the Board should use to evaluate the performance of the Superintendent?


16. Last November, Oak Park voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative that proposed that voters be able to approve ordinances and policies though a direct vote. At this point the vote on the ballot initiative was advisory or non-binding. The next step is for the Village or any other taxing body in Oak Park (as reported by the Wednesday Journal, November 7, 2024) to decide whether or not to place the issue on the ballot as a binding referendum. Please share your views on this initiative.