Joliet District 86 board candidates address test scores, school security at NAACP forum

Joliet — Matthew Pritz and Deborah Ziech, candidates for the Joliet Public Schools District 86 Board of School Inspectors, appeared Wednesday alongside candidates from Joliet Township High School District 204 during a candidates forum hosted by the Joliet NAACP and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority at the Joliet Public Library.

The two candidates, who are both running for an open seat to represent the city’s west side, discussed issues including test scores and curriculum, as well as the need to support teachers and improve district transparency.

There are two seats available from the west side in the April 1 election.

The third candidate seeking the seat, LeShae Hudson, was unable to attend the forum because she was traveling out of state to attend a family funeral. Hudson works for the Joliet Township as the Violence Prevention Council coordinator.

Deborah Ziech

Ziech is a retired nurse and former member of the District 86 board, serving from 2003 to 2023. She also is director of the Joliet Grade School Foundation and the founder of Joliet Reads.

Ziech said her largest concern about the school district is its test scores, particularly in reading, which are below state average.

“My primary concern is education and literacy,” she said. “Currently, when you look at our test scores, our literacy rates are dropping. That is concerning. There is nothing more important than having children able to read.”

She said although problems were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are larger problems with the curriculum, and a larger focus should be put on literacy by the community.

“Joliet is a wonderful city, but we have a long way to go on this, and we need to get more parents on board,” she said. “The community as a whole needs to address this. It can’t be just on schools. These are our future taxpayers and voters. The city should take an interest.”

Ziech suggested one possible solution could be hiring more paraprofessionals to assist in every first- and second-grade classroom, as the district already does for kindergarten classes.

“If you have a student get to third grade and they can’t read at level, you’re going to lose them,” Ziech said. “If you think they don’t know at that point that they’re not in the ‘smart group,’ you’re mistaken, and they’ll give up. It’s a huge problem.”

Ziech praised the district’s teachers and staff for their dedication and their ability to connect with students who come from an increasingly diverse background.

“We have people who really reach out to our students,” Ziech said. “You never know who a student will connect with. I had teachers who changed my life when I was growing up in the district.”

Ziech praised the district’s announcement of an anonymous teacher feedback survey that will be going out to staff in March, and suggested staff need further support, including more regular communication between the unions and the administration, and potentially cash stipends that teachers could use to buy supplies and materials for their classrooms.

Ziech also suggested that more transparency is needed at the district level to keep parents aware of what is going on.

She suggested that the school board should tape and broadcast its monthly meetings and make recordings available in English and Spanish, as District 204 does.

She also emphasized the importance of board members making themselves available to the public, and suggested that the district should provide a glossary of economic and budgetary terms on its website alongside its annual budget to make it easier for residents to understand.

Matthew Pritz

Pritz is running for his second term on the District 86 board. He is employed as a diagnostics sales manager at Antech and has two children who attend or will attend District 86 schools.

Addressing the concerns about test scores and literacy raised by Ziech, Pritz acknowledged that scores have been low, but he said that the district already is taking action to improve them.

“We’ve been very focused on getting the tools students need to succeed with our curriculums,” Pritz said. “We’ve rolled out new curriculums for reading, math and [English-language learners] over the last three years, and we’re excited to see those results.”

He also addressed the issue of attendance, which he said complicates academic performance, noting that “it’s hard to do anything if they aren’t in the building.”

However, he said attendance numbers have improved this school year over the past few years post-pandemic.

Pritz also praised the district’s voters for approving the referendum that has allowed for the construction of two new junior highs to replace Gompers and Hufford, and for smaller improvements to be made at the district’s other buildings.

“It’s been great seeing the kids getting excited about the new schools,” he said. “It’s important to me that the students can walk into spaces every day that they feel proud of and safe in.”

He also addressed the issue of safety in regard to cellphones when an audience member asked about potential bans on phones in the classroom at the high school and junior high levels, something Gov. JB Pritzker recently addressed.

“Students aren’t supposed to have phones in the classroom,” Pritz said. “But I heard parents talk about why they want their kids to have them because they want to be able to communicate if there is an emergency. People are afraid, and those fears are rational. School safety is a concern, so I believe that continuing to increase safety, as we have been doing, is important so people don’t feel as much fear and don’t feel as much need for the phones all the time.”

Pritz also addressed concerns about teacher shortages and retention, noting that the administration recently has “overhauled” its human resources department to “address gaps” and improve recruitment for the district.

“At the end of the day, the most important person in that room is the teacher,” Pritz said. “Nobody goes into this because they want to be millionaires. They do it for the students, and we need to make sure they feel supported and don’t get burnt out.”

Part of addressing the issue for teachers also is the introduction of an anonymous survey school employees will be able to fill out this spring to give the district direction on what its staff needs.

“As someone whose family has been in Joliet for generations, these schools are very near and dear to my heart,” Pritz said. “They shape the future of our communities, and making sure we give the teachers and students the best resources to succeed is incredibly important.”