Name: Nancy Zettler

Position for which you are a candidate: School District U-300 Board

 

Why are you seeking this position?

I am running for re-election to the D300 Board of Education because I believe in public education. I believe that education is the one thing that you can earn throughout your life that no one can take away from you. I also believe that every child is entitled to a great education and the chance to learn to love to learn. To accomplish these goals we have to make sure that every child who walks through the doors of one of our schools feels welcome, valued, safe and loved. Only then are they really “ready” to learn.

We all lived through COVID and there are not many of us who were not negatively impacted by it. As members of the Board throughout, we were responsible for making sure that the students and staff of our district remained safe during a time when what would happen next was not easy to predict. Of course, that meant making several difficult decisions. Making those decisions was not easy but the thought of a child or employee dying or getting seriously ill, was too much to bear.

Now we are back in school and in the recovery stage and things seem to be going better but we still have a lot to do. Many of our kids are still suffering from emotional issues and we still have work to do to get our kids where they should be academically. I’d like to continue working on these and other issues like finding and retaining great educators and support staff and strengthening the working relationship between the district and our community.

 

What experience and background do you have which qualifies you for this position?

In addition to being on the board for almost four years, I have been a resident of Algonquin since 1999 when my husband and I moved our family here. I almost immediately became involved in D300 and have spent a lot of time over the years working to support the district and the community. In 2005, I worked as Co-Chair of Advance 300, a grassroots community driven organization crucial to the passage of referenda in 2006 that helped put the district on a course towards being one of the most financially healthy and transparent districts in the state.

In 2011, we resurrected Advance 300 and worked with the board and administration to fight the state’s continued diversion of property tax dollars, meant for our schools, to Sears Holding Corporation. This diversion has cost D300 hundreds of millions of dollars over the years and while we weren’t able to prevent the extension, we were able to get back several million dollars a year that would have otherwise continued to be given to Sears.

In addition to local activism, I have also proudly served on several Board committees including the Community Finance Committee, the Legislative Committee and the D300 Foundation for Educational Excellence as Chair of the Foundation’s Literacy Committee.  All of this and, of course, having raised two children who went through the district, I believe, qualifies me to continue as a productive member of the Board.

 

What will be your highest priorities if elected?

COVID seems to be behind us; we are back in school and in the recovery stage. But, while things are going better, we still have a lot to do. Many of our kids are still suffering from emotional issues and we still have a lot work to do to get our kids where they should be academically. In addition, while we are doing great financially (we just built an amazing new elementary school without having to run a referendum), the district is growing and we may need another new school soon. I’d like to continue working on these and other issues like finding and retaining great educators and support staff and strengthening the working relationship between the district and our community.

 

Will you be attending the Candidate Night?  Yes

 

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