'Building Trust' Considered D-205 Challenge

ELMHURST, IL — A look at Elmhurst's major Facebook pages show that many residents are unhappy with Elmhurst School District 205's handling of the pandemic. Many other districts are facing similar criticism.

So it may be unsurprising that district-hired consultants consider gaining the community's trust as a challenge for a new superintendent. The consultants gathered public input last month as part of their effort to help the district recruit a new superintendent.

"Building trust and raising morale is a challenge for a new leader, especially after dealing with the pandemic for a year," consultant Linda Yonke told the school board Tuesday. "Communication about decision-making is a key area to address."

Yonke and others from Oak Park-based School Exec Connect held nearly two dozen virtual focus group sessions with the public and gathered 2,400 responses to an online survey. In the firm's experience, the number of survey responses was "extraordinary," doubling the number of even larger districts, Yonke said.

The consultants found most people believe the school district has a lot of resources and take pride in its record. But in many focus group sessions, the pandemic was uppermost on people's minds, Yonke said.

"In fact, in some groups, it was hard to get people to think about something other than the pandemic and the effects of it," Yonke said. "There are concerns about student learning, about community harmony, about board operations, about safety and health of students, staff and the entire community."

She said teachers were the most positive and hopeful of the groups that the consultants interviewed.

"With parents, opening of school is on their minds, but it was clear in these groups that not everyone agrees. Not everyone feels that they should be open right now. Not everyone thinks they shouldn't be open. There was a diversity of viewpoints in all the groups. I think everyone wants to be back in school. Of course, there are a lot of questions to consider before getting there."

Another consultant, Tim Shimp, said the district saw some families take their children out of the local public schools and move them to private schools.

"It's on people's minds about how do we instill trust and get those people back," he said.

The superintendent's position is set to become vacant in the summer, when Superintendent Dave Moyer takes a superintendent's job in Upstate New York.

The consultants said they have received more than 30 applications for superintendent so far and expect a dozen more this week. The school board is set to choose a new superintendent in April. This will be after the April 6 election and before the new board takes office.