Jorge Ayala, Yorkville School District 115 School Board election questionnaire

Full Name: Jorge Ayala

What office are you seeking? Member of the School Board for Yorkville CUSD11

What is your political party? Not affiliated

What is your current age? 71

Occupation and Employer: Retired, Invited Professor of Physical Chemistry at University ITESO in Mexico

What offices, if any, have you previously held? Current member of the Park Board in the City of Yorkville

City: Yorkville, IL

Campaign Website: Jorge Ayala for CUSD 115 School Board @ Facebook.com

Education: B.S. in Chemical Engineering

Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry

Community involvement: Park District Board

Citizens Advisory Council for CUSD 115 Bilingual Advisory Council for CUSD 115

Member of the Multilingual Mission and Vision Focus Group for CUSD 115 Member of the Pathways Oversight Committee for the CUSD 115

Marital status/Immediate family: My wife’s name is Marcia Ayala.

I have four children, one of them, Alejandro, is attending YHS as a freshman.

Why are you running for office?

First, I am passionate about providing Yorkville children the best possible education, an education that will prepare them for their life after high school in a diverse society.

Second, I am the candidate that is best prepared to be in the school board due to my knowledge of the work being done by the current board, and my relationship with the school administrators, teachers and involved families in the district.

What makes you qualified for the office you’re seeking?

Professionally, I have academic experience, including as a voluntary assistant to the dual language teacher in 8th grade in 2022, and as an invited professor for summer courses in a University in Mexico. Also, I worked in international companies, and worked closely with research and development groups in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the US. That experience has made me aware of the importance of understanding and accepting diversity, which is an increasingly important component in the education of our children.

In the past 5 years, I have attended over 50% of school board meetings or school board committee meetings. This has provided me with a detailed knowledge of how the school board works and of the issues that affect and will affect the school district. This is besides the very good relationship I have developed with the school administrators and teachers

Have you sought and/or received any training to run for your local school board? If so, from whom?

I have completed the official training on “Open Meetings Act” from the Illinois Attorney General offic

Would you propose any changes to the curriculum? If so, what?

I am currently participating as a member of the Pathways Oversight Committee focused on offering opportunities for students to explore different career pathways. This committee discusses and considers new courses that will expand the offerings for high school students. I will promote the work of this committee, as it is very important for developing alternative areas for a professional career after high school.

Also, I will continue to promote the bilingual program in the district. Improvements in the bilingual program in the middle school curriculum are needed to achieve a solid offering in the area of Language Arts, both in Spanish and English.

Are LGBTQ students treated fairly in your district?

In my interaction with the district administration and teachers, and as a participant as a volunteer in school events I have observed a very fair treatment for all students, including the LGBTQ students. However, due to some polarizing trends in our society it is important to maintain focus on the fact that our schools should treat every person the same without having to pay attention to a background associated with that person. We are still a little far from reaching that objective.

What is your assessment of how Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is handled in your school district?

Yorkville is becoming an increasingly diverse community and that is reflected also at the school district. Diversity and Inclusion are very well addressed in our school policies and in the culture of the school district as a whole. This, however, does not lead directly to Equity.

Equity, understood as all students, without exception, having equal access to resources and opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge that will prepare the students to be successful in their life after high school.

The district has more work to do to reduce academic gaps between English Learners, Hispanic and African American students and the average student in the district. Similarly, not all the Elementary Schools in the district achieve the same academic results, which indicates differences in the quality of education that is received depending on the school that a particular student may attend. This provides plenty of opportunities for improvement, regarding the handling of Equity in our district.

Do you believe the district needs to make any changes to improve DEI in your district?

The district needs to address the issues I mentioned regarding Equity.

Some ideas may include: a higher level of communication among elementary school teachers. This should include communication at each individual school and communication across schools. This may lead to an improvement in the quality of the curriculum, as well as to the adoption of best practices across schools.

Another idea is to increase the level of academic services for students that require special attention. This is at times difficult due to availability of personnel, but the district should continue on to adopt policies for improvement in this area.

Also, family engagement is an area where continuous improvement is imperative, introduction of new and improved ideas to achieve higher levels of family engagement is imperative if the district wants to reduce existing academic gaps in certain groups of students.

Improvement on the setting of academic goals at all levels is necessary. The academic goals need to be properly communicated to families and set a level of accountability for teachers and administrator

Are teachers in your district paid adequately now and in retirement?

Many, including me, would argue that teachers are not adequately paid considering the level of time that they dedicate to their job and the responsibility associated with the education of children. I could also argue that our district has somewhat of a high level of turnover of teachers, which at least in some cases can be associated to other districts offering a higher level of compensation. The district must strive to compensate teachers at the highest possible level without causing a detriment in the healthy fiscal situation currently enjoyed by the district.

Would you support changes to teacher pay scales? If so, how?

Changes to teacher pay scales is a conversation that must include the Yorkville Education Association, which represents the teachers. Also, this conversation must consider specific situations within the district. There are special education situations in which the district, and the state as a whole, requires academic specialists with very specific skills, which are in very short supply. It could be considered that higher pay scales should be associated with such positions. However, this needs to be carefully considered and the Yorkville Education Association should be involved in any of these discussions.

What is your assessment of the district superintendent’s compensation?

Considering the good direction of the school district, the unique and successful way of addressing the education of our children during the pandemic, the way in which the district has responded to the need of improving the safety and security of our children at the school premises and during the transportation from home to school and back, the compensation of the superintendent corresponds to his responsibilities and excellent performance.

Would you make any changes to how the district superintendent is compensated?

Not at the moment.

Do you support the current superintendent? Please explain.

Yes, I fully support the current superintendent.

Over the years I have observed that Dr. Shimp’s most important objective is to provide the best possible education for the children of Yorkville. Dr. Shimp is always looking for new ideas in education and in the ways some of those ideas may be implemented into the culture and modus operandi of the district. In addition, Dr. Shimp is a very good listener.

He carefully takes into consideration diverse opinions on difficult subjects and acts to accommodate the best alternatives for students and families. This was the case during the COVID pandemic and has been the case in many situations in which he has instructed his staff to accommodate the requests from parents. Similarly, has adopted policies that he believes are better for the education of the children against opposing views, while at the same time being open to reverse course if the results are not what he expected.

Dr. Shimp has a clear vision for the future of the education in the district. This year the district included full day kindergarten as an option for parents and new students. This was indeed made possible by adding a new facility, the Early Childhood Center. For the future, there are already conversations about a new north side middle school to accommodate the expected growth of student population in the district.

I look forward to working with Dr. Shimp if elected to the school board, as I know that my point of view will be well regarded even if we have a difference of opinion.

Should schools in your district adopt and teach sex education according to the National Sex Education Standards? Please explain.

For many families it is very important that the school teaches sex education to their children. This is currently being done by the school district to the satisfaction of most of the families. No changes are necessary to what is currently being done.

What is your assessment of how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled locally?

It has been generally accepted, even in many other districts in Illinois, that the Yorkville School District adopted one of the best responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The district was very flexible in offering all possible options for students and families, full day school, full remote (virtual) schooling and half day remote with half day virtual school. This was unprecedented and required a lot of effort from the part of the staff. I commend the district for how this difficult and unprecedented situation was handled by giving the families options, protecting our students and staff, while following state guidelines and mandates.

What did you learn from the pandemic?

I confirmed the commitment of the district to provide the best alternatives for the education of our children. I also learned that we have, for the most part, a community that takes very seriously the responsibility to protect all elements of our society from dangerous health situations that impact us all.

Also, that we have to adapt to new conditions, including the reintroduction of our students to what used to be a normal day of school after the disruptions of the pandemic. This, was made possible by the dedication of the great teachers of the Yorkville School District.

Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?

Supporting the district and paying taxes are two different things. The majority of the families in the community are very supportive of the district. However, we have a level of taxes that the majority of residents considers too high.

Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?

No, I do not support raising taxes. The school is currently in a very healthy fiscal situation.

Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?

No, I would not support lowering taxes. There is a need to improve and possibly expand current programs and services offered to students.

Will you accept the voters’ decision in your race on Election Day?

Yes.

What is your position on open, transparent government?

That is how a government dedicated to the service of the people should act.

Do you support the Freedom of Information Act and citizens’ ability to freely access government records?

Yes.