2025 Election Questionnaire: Kimberly Rich, St. Charles District 303 Board of Education

Name: Kimberly Rich

What office are you seeking? District 303 School Board

What is your political party? Independent

What is your current age? 46

Occupation and employer: End of Life Companion and Grief Educator

What offices, if any, have you previously held? School Board in Phoenix, AZ

City: St. Charles

Campaign Website: N/A

Education: Bachelors in Elementary Education

Masters in Special Education

Masters in School Administration

Doctoral Degree in Organizational Leadership

Community Involvement: I am actively involved as a volunteer at Fox Valley Hands of Hope.

Marital status/Immediate family: I am married with four children. Son age 22, daughter age 19, son age 17, son age 13.

Questions:

How can the district improve reading and English proficiency and state test scores?

I think that the district can improve reading and English test scores through a variety of ways. To start, teachers need more support in the classrooms to be able to provide individualized instruction focused on what each individual student needs. In addition to support, teachers need access to targeted professional development and contract time to plan and develop interventions. In addition to support for the teachers we need to leverage technology and online programs to help students to grow in areas of weakness and provide parents with in depth resources to help them to best be able to support their learners at home.

As diversity, equity and inclusion programs are being rolled back in organizations around the country, what role does the school district have to play in ensuring a diverse community of learners has equal opportunities for success?

I believe that the district is doing a good job with diversity and equity efforts. The focus of “We Belong” in D303 aligns with their stated core values of belonging, perseverance, and achievement. The district website states that “We honor the dignity of each person by accepting, validating, and appreciating them, and by treating every individual fairly” and I see work being done to ensure that these are not simply statements, but the known expectations of district leadership and staff members.

I do support the continuation of such programs. The state of Illinois’ compulsory education laws mandate that children between the ages of seven and 16 must attend school. If attendance is mandatory I believe that all students have the right to feel safe and comfortable while at school and in order to feel safe and comfortable you must feel that you are a welcome member of the organization.

Do you think the district is doing enough to ensure that schools are drug-free environments? Why or why not? And if not, what more can be done?

Creating a drug-free school environment requires a balance of education, support, prevention, and intervention. It also requires creating a school culture where students understand the risks and consequences of drug use while also providing them with the problem solving tools to feel confident without the use of substances. I do think that the district is doing a good job of trying to ensure drug-free environments within the schools, including using canine searches at the high school level. Our district has clear expectations and policies and provides parent education programs to help keep parents aware of the ever changing nature of substance abuse in adolescents. Although we are doing well, I do believe that we need to explore high quality social and emotional curriculum that starts at the elementary school age that would provide classroom teachers with the training and materials to help students learn how to problem solve, identify and communicate their feelings, self-regulate, and make responsible decisions on their own.

What steps can districts take to ensure students are physically safe while in the building? Is the district doing enough or would you like to see more?

I believe that our current board and school administration are doing a good job of having conversations about the topic of school safety and making adjustments in partnership with local authorities as needed. That said, I would like to further our conversations on school safety. I still see areas of weakness, things that we would deeply regret not addressing should anything unspeakable happen. It is a difficult conversation as many solutions would require funding, but a topic that we need to continue engaging with.

If you have children, do they or did they attend public school and was that for all of their K-12 school years?

I have four children and all four have attended public schools when we have lived in Illinois. For a short period of time our family lived in Phoenix, AZ and during that time our children did attend private schools. The public school system in Arizona is ranked 47th in the nation in prek-12 education, so while living there we did research and selected a more rigorous academic program for our children.

What do you see as the school district’s role in deciding what materials should be available in the library and in curricula?

The school district has an active role in deciding what materials should be available to students within the district schools. The Learning and Teaching team, in collaboration with teachers, specialists, and administration largely serve in this role and work hard to review a variety of resources before making suggestions to staff members, who then also get to explore materials prior to decisions being made. They should look at a variety of factors such as alignment with the standards, rigor, grade level appropriateness, supplemental resources for teachers, and potential to engage students.

Most of local residents' property taxes go to their school districts. Are taxes paid to your school district too high? What would you do to protect the interests of taxpayers?

The taxes paid in D303 are currently higher than both the Illinois state median and the national median. Whether or not these taxes are “too high” is a bit of a subjective question. Some taxpayers support the higher price tag because they want to see the schools succeed, but for others they would feel relief if property taxes were lowered.

I think that we need to do our best as a board to not increase taxes, but instead to look at current spending and make sure that our budget is balanced and that we are using our funding as effectively as possible.

Most of the COVID relief money from the federal government is coming to an end. What spending adjustments does your school district need to make to address that?

The current board has been aware of this funding coming to an end and has been making adjustments appropriately. If I were elected to serve I would follow the plan that they already have in place.

Should Title IX cover sexual orientation or gender identity? What are your views on the use of locker rooms and bathrooms by transgender students and their participating in sports?

This is a complex issue that is currently at the heart of many debates nationwide. I will be honest, this is a question that I struggle to answer today. One of my top goals is to ensure that all students feel safe and comfortable while they are at school. I need to learn more by engaging in research. I would do this by tuning into what other school systems are doing, through listening to what teachers and coaches are seeing and experiencing, listening to how parents are feeling, and probably most importantly, in hearing how the students are feeling.

What is your stance on ICE agents accessing school grounds, and what policies would you advocate for regarding their presence on school property?

I do not think that ICE agents should be accessing school grounds. I firmly believe that students need to feel safe and comfortable while at school and that the presence of ICE agents would not allow for this. I believe that ICE agents being on school property would not only be a distraction for all students, but for concerned staff members as well, greatly impacting the academic success of all.

What are the top three issues that the school district is facing right now?

The top three issues facing our school district today are:

Maintaining a balanced budget while ensuring that we are offering high quality programs to our students

Attracting, hiring, and retaining the top educators and support staff in the state

School safety

What is your position on allowing students to use cell phones during school hours?

My experience as an educator has been that cell phones lead to distraction and disengagement while in school leading to decreased student performance. I think that cell phone use should be quite limited, but I also think that staff members will need clear expectations set that will be backed by administration.

Do you think cell phone policies should allow exceptions for emergencies or specific educational purposes? If so, how would these exceptions be defined?

I do think that there will need to be some exceptions made should students not be allowed to regularly use cellphones in school. I think that students should be allowed to carry their phones on them, but turned off and in their backpacks. In the event of an emergency students would have their phone with them and be able to make a phone call with permission from a school employee.

I also think that it is important to note that some students may have cell phone use built into their daily schedule through a 504 plan for medical use. Although there are many examples where this would be necessary, one example would be for a student with a blood glucose monitor, (diabetes diagnosis), that sends alerts through a cell phone.

What steps would you take to address concerns about cyberbullying and inappropriate content access through student cell phones?

This too is a complex issue that crosses the home and school boundaries. The district needs to start by setting clear expectations for use, with consistent consequences when the expectations are not met. We need to continue to offer digital citizenship lessons in school and refer back to these lessons as needed. While I recognize that it is easy to get around this with the use of personal data, we should continue to use content filtering software on school networks. We have offered parent education events on this topic in the past and should continue to do that, providing parents with resources to help support these efforts within the home. Finally, I would implement anonymous ways for students to report cyberbullying when they see/encounter it with a consistent plan for staff to follow up and monitor concerns.

Should students be able to use AI in schoolwork?

It is essential to consider how AI can, and is, impacting education, and when considering the use of AI as a learning tool I think that there are opportunities for balance. There are some benefits to the use of AI such as personalized assistance, access to resources that may not be present in the classroom, and as a tool to support diverse learners. That said, we do not want AI to replace individual learning and problem solving. The overuse of AI can lead to a lack of personality within a student’s work, could lead to a decline in communication skills, and diminished self confidence. The goal should be to integrate AI into the learning process without sacrificing the skills that are critical for students’ development.

What is your plan for making district financial reports, including budgets and expenditures, publicly available and easy to understand?

The D303 budget is publicly available through the district website for viewing. A budget of our size is complex and, if not already being done, the school board should put together a one to two page synopsis for the general public to read, reflect on, and understand.

I also believe that district staff should be provided with a similar synopsis, but one tailored specifically to their own department budgets.

How would you involve parents and community members in the decision-making process for curriculum or policy changes?

As a community member and school parent I am regularly in conversation with the members of our community. I will continue to build these relationships and engage in thoughtful conversation with a variety of people to hear their ideas, concerns, and celebrations. When making policy decisions it will be the research, data, staff conversations, and community member conversations that will altogether guide my vote.

What is your position on banning books in school libraries or classrooms, and how do you define the criteria for such decisions?

I do not support banning books in school libraries. Available texts should be age appropriate and school librarians should work to curate a diverse, inclusive, and thoughtful selection that aligns with district curriculum and reflects different age groups’ developmental stages, interests, and learning needs.

Should a parent express concern over an assigned or chosen text they should communicate with the school and request an alternative.

How would you balance maintaining appropriate class sizes with the current teacher staffing levels?

I think there are creative ways that we can utilize our staff to better support our growing district. We need to look at how we utilize support staff, how we plan classes and schedules, and reconsider subject specific teaching at the lower grades. For example, are we using flexible grouping and targeted interventions in the most efficient ways possible? Would this help? I think spending time with the teachers and administration to review what is currently in place, talking to other school districts who are managing class sizes well, and engaging in conversation with a willingness to try new things.

Do you believe the district is allocating enough resources toward hiring and supporting teachers, and if not, what changes would you make?

I believe that the district is allocating what they can right now toward hiring and supporting teachers. While they are doing what they can, I do think that we need to be doing more to attract, retain, and keep the top teachers in Illinois. I do not think that this can be done by increasing salaries at this time, but I do think that we can start looking at teacher satisfaction and implement creative ideas to ensure that teachers feel appreciated and supported…and know that there is nowhere they would rather work than D303.

How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?

I have shown through my campaign that I am here and that I am always willing to engage in a polite and professional conversation. It would be my hope that community members, parents, and district staff members will reach out to me with both celebrations and concerns and I will be happy to engage in discussions about either.