Pat Savage-Williams, special education coordinator at the Northfield campus of New Trier High School, sees safety at Evanston Township High School as an issue in her quest for election to the District 202 School Board.
Speaking to potential voters in the April 9 school board elections at a coffee Sunday on her behalf, the school psychologist said it is important, in her view, to see that the high school is a safe environment for students, even as violence may occur in the area surrounding the school.
Other issues she identified in her talk: finances, curriculum, and articulation with District 65, the elementary and middle school district that feeds its students into the high school.
On finances, she says that a shift in pension responsibilities from the state to local school boards will likely require budget cuts that she would hope to keep from adversely affecting the classroom.
On curriculum, she said she would join with other board members in taking a close look at evaluation data to determine what, if any, changes should be made in the program, such as freshman humanities and biology, that have resulted in the elimination of honors-only classes in those subjects.
As for relations with District 65, she said she is open to ways to improve the articulation between the two districts to enhance the ability of incoming freshmen to succeed at the high school.
She noted that for 25 years she served as a school psychologist at District 65 before moving on to her present position at New Trier.
In her professional capacity, Savage-Williams said she has spent considerable time in classrooms at all levels and has been involved with teams dealing with individual problems of students.
“Given my strong understanding of the many pressures that adolescents grapple with today,” she says in her campaign literature, “I believe that my professional expertise would be an asset to the school board.”
Top: Savage-Williams at a campaign coffee on Sunday.