Venus Hurd Johnson

candidate for 2025 OAK PARK District 97 School Board

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?

I am seeking reelection to continue to forward momentum the district is making with meeting the needs of Oak Park children to elevate their experience in D97 and to provide guidance to our superintendent as she continues to improve and update many of the systems (inside and outside the classroom) that make our school district operate more effectively. I am passionate about serving our community and I’m committed to preparing our students to thrive in high school and beyond to reach their full potential.  

2.What do you see as the three biggest challenges or opportunities facing the D97 in and what role do you see the Board playing to address them over the next four years?

Given our current political climate and the uncertain longevity of the Department of Education, we need to stay close to directions from our state leaders and continue to be fiscally conservative with our budget and reserves.   We need to maintain a focus on racial equity and DEI initiatives and highlight the many contributions of our diverse staff and student populations.  We still have a long-standing opportunity gap with our Black students that needs to continue to be a focus.  Improving their sense of belonging and feeling welcomed has improved, which contributes to improved test scores.  Lastly, we need to continue to engage our school communities in meaningful dialogue focusing on student successes and where we need to do a better job to help them succeed.  

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? 

We get all board materials in advance to review.  Most of the motions we vote on are related to normal functions of the board.  If I have questions or concerns, I seek out the Superintendent or the administration content expert to provide clarification, so I am making an informed decision.  I think our transparency and communication at the board table is good.  I am always open to feedback on how to improve it.  I listen intently to public comment as a litmus test about how we are performing as a district.  I would like to see the board and the Superintendent hold parent nights at each school to hear from parents and staff to a valuable and sincere two-way dialogue.  This helps all of us perform our duties more effectively.

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?

I serve on the D97 BOE Financial Oversight and Review Committee (FORC).  This Committee consists of BOE members, district admin, community members and a financial consultant.   I can confidently say we operate in a very fiscally responsible manner, staying within our budget, and complying with all audit requirements and standards.  We look at the short and long term needs of the district and budget accordingly.  Our consultant works with many other school districts which helps us understand how we compare with peer school districts and what good practices we can learn from and adopt.

5. What would you say to voters who are worried about Oak Park’s overall tax burden?  It is never the goal of any taxing body to raise taxes on its citizens.  

Oak Park property taxes are expensive. As a Oak Park community member, I don’t want my taxes to go any higher and as a BOE member, I don’t want ask for a tax referendum.  Approximately 70% of D97 funds come from property taxes and we don’t get many municipal tax breaks.  Serving on FORC, I review all district budgets and financial statements, and we have been operating with a balanced budget and responsibly used our federal ESSER funds during COVID. We are on a good trajectory with all the community committees working together to keep our district financially solvent.

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.

It is a priority for each D97 student to be provided with an enriching and welcoming environment that nurtures personal growth, exploration and academic success.  Achieving this goal for each student is multi-faceted with providing the appropriate learning resources, setting high academic standards and fostering a positive culture of inclusivity and diversity.  D97 strives to be a place where each student feels valued, challenged and supported and the data is showing positive trends to meet this goal.  Equity is the backbone of achieving excellence when the right resources, tools and opportunities are provided to address disparities in our schools.

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?

Delivering appropriate services to special education students and ensuring accessibility and inclusion are essential.  I’ve learned from families that the delivery of special education services offers an opportunity to enhance equity.  The district continues to pursue appropriate avenues to remedy this issue, with compliance of IEP’s and 504 plans and regular evaluation of needed services and supports.  We need to provide professional development to general education teachers to expand their repertoire of differentiated learning strategies.  Our district will benefit from expanding trauma-informed approaches to meet the needs of neurodiverse students, whose disabilities can be misunderstood. The Board of Education needs to receive consistent updates from the Superintendent with specific metrics and goals for our special education students.  This will improve transparency and escalate the pace for equitable change.

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?

We are consistently making assessments of our students and reviewing disparate data on students of color, those with IEPs/504 plans, multilingual students and those receiving free and reduced lunch.  This year each school improvement plan has a student focal cohort which drives a lot of the performance and resource decisions within the building to aggressively reduce the gaps some students experience and address the long-standing opportunity gap in our district.  Each school has placed specific focus on progress of black and brown students, with IEP’s and 

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?

D97 is a place where all should feel welcomed and student voices encouraged.  Our policies cover harassment, equity, bullying and overall conduct for students and staff.  Implementation of these policies happens at each school and plays a role in how school culture is developed.  The board, superintendent, administrators and teaching staff build school cultures that are welcoming with a robust learning environment that celebrates our diverse student population.  We want each D97 student to feel safe, respected and connected.  With DEI becoming a negative buzz word nationally, the D97 board and district are committed to maintaining a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion with further resolve because we have evidence of its benefits to our students and community.  

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?

Book banning is a very short sighted and ineffective control tactic that breeds ignorance and fear.  Parents have the right to decide what books they want their children to read, but those rights do not extend to other children.  If you don’t want your student to read a specific book then don't let them read it or check it out, but do not tell other parents what to do based on your personal value system that they may not share.  No one group of parent rights should supersede the rights of other parents within a school district or community.  Thankfully we have not seen any requests to ban any books, but the district administrators would investigate any claims made about a book, research available data, test it against our policies, bring the information to the board and we can collectively make decisions based upon what’s best for the whole student population.

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?

Teachers have a difficult time competing with teaching students who are distracted by cell phones.  Recently the district has greatly improved the execution of cell phone usage policy with clear expectations and providing support to teachers for implementation in their classroom, especially at the middle schools.  Bullying and physical altercations have no place in our schools and yet we see students engaging in these negative behaviors.  Developing meaningful and impactful relationships with our students with accountability are critical to curbing unwanted behaviors.  Using our student handbook as a reference and using the discipline processes work when administrators need to use them.  The more students feel connected to their schools and the adults in the building the better the experience for all.  Additional supports and check-ins are used effectively for students who need them.

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 D97 do to address this trend? 

D97 is well resourced with highly trained staff to address students’ mental health needs allowing for a comprehensive, proactive approach focused on prevention, intervention and support.  The district also partners with the Oak Park Township Youth Services and the Park District to help direct mental health resources and professional help to students in need.  Parents, teachers and social workers work together to provide a strong support system for students in crisis.  The district uses age-appropriate, social-emotional curriculum to build strong self-esteem and healthy relationships.

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?

The BOE has played an integral role in guiding the superintendent to address challenges of staff turnover and delegation of resources to students.  Building staff morale, creating a positive school/work environment and judicious allocation of resources are top priorities for the district and board. The district is currently piloting new math and reading curriculum which will level set goals and achievement measurements for both students and teachers.  Creating teacher leader roles and investing in the voices of teachers with collaboration opportunities and committee contributions shows the district’s commitment to valuing and supporting our teachers.  These are some of the efforts used to help reduce employee turnover in D97.

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?

The Collaboration for Early Childhood (CEC) plays an essential role in the development of our younger children. Kindergarten readiness and CEC’s investment in young learners contributes to student academic success when they reach D97 and beyond. Intergovernmental cooperation among multiple agencies and non-profit organizations exemplifies excellence in our village.  Several village agencies meet regularly with BOE liaison members to discuss ways to collaborate and conserve.  The IGOV agreements allow each organization to save money, reserve resources, and reduce duplication of services.  The support for this type of collaboration within the village is strong and I will continue to support it.

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?  

The BOE and the superintendent agree upon goals for evaluation that meet the needs of the district.  The goals are thoughtfully developed based upon discussions between the BOE and the superintendent about what are our current priorities, what resources are available and developing a plan to meet the established goals.  Each board member provides an evaluation on how the superintendent met those goals and areas for improvement.  We develop a consensus about each of the goals based on the evaluation feedback and deliver that information to the superintendent.  District academic performance, financial health, district operational efficiency and employee retention rates should all be a part of the evaluation process.

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. 

The initiative seeks to empower voters to make changes in their local communities and to have a greater share of voice.  It is my goal to always listen and work with community members to address any challenges long before a referendum is needed.  This initiative would be most effective from the Village Board, however as a taxing body like the school board can also put this forward for vote as a referendum.  I would want to develop the appropriate language, so the core ideals of the referendum would be preserved and not have unintended consequences for future board members and the community.