District 15 School Board Hopeful Focuses on Education for Working Families

Adam Bauske grew up on a family farm in Long Grove and now calls Hoffman Estates home. He and his wife, who is also from the Chicago area, decided to move back to the the Northwest Suburbs to be close to family and so that their children could receive a top notch public education.

“When it was time to register our son for Kindergarten, we were disappointed that full-day Kindergarten was not offered in District 15,” said Bauske. “We had recently seen that Schaumburg District 54 had moved to full day Kindergarten, and read the research to support implementing it.”

In fact, District 15 is one of only a few school districts that does not offer full-day Kindergarten. According to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), 79% of kindergarten classes are “all day everyday” with a half-day option as of 2015.

“We are lucky and are able to send our son to Holy Family for one year to ensure he gets the best start to his education with a full day of classes,” said Bauske. “But not all parents are able to do that, and given the research, I believe every child in our district should have access to this educational opportunity.”

The National Education Association says that research shows children that attend full-day Kindergarten do better in reading and math than those that attend half day. They also promote full-day Kindergarten as a way to “close achievement gaps between young children from minority and low-income families and their peers.”

Bauske says that one of the main reasons District 15 does not offer full-day Kindergarten is a lack of facilities, and one of his first tasks as a board member will be to address those space issues.

“We have students using trailers as classrooms, and that is unacceptable. Our school system is one of the biggest draws of living in this area. It has a huge positive impact on our housing values, and we’re not investing in it accordingly,” he said.

Bauske believes that success in high school, college and beyond starts in early education and that facilities and teachers play a major role in fostering that success. He says that teachers, staff and parents need to work together with the board to drive positive change for the district.

While Bauske’s son will be the one entering 1st grade in District 15 next year, his daughter may end up being his good luck charm on Election Day.

“She’s turning four on April 4th,” said Bauske. “And she keeps asking if she’ll still get party on her birthday. I tell her ‘of course and hopefully she’ll share it with daddy.’”

For a sample ballot go to www.d15d211.org.