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player ready...Two write-in candidates are hoping to gain a spot on the Pleasantdale Elementary District 107 School Board.
Willow Springs residents Stan Piskorski and Mike Rak both hope to get enough votes to earn a seat on the board. Only two candidates — Vipul Dedhia of Indian Head Park and David A. Negron of Willow Springs — filed for the three open four-year spots on the board.
Gina Scaletta-Nelson of Willow Springs is running unopposed for a two-year term.
While Piskorski and Rak could both earn seats on the board with enough votes, both said they will conduct low-budget, word-of-mouth campaigns, making it likely that they will be battling each other for the third four-year seat.
Piskorski said he does not have a child in the school system and would join the board with a clean slate.
“I am running for the board because I am a parent of someone who was in the school system,” Piskorski said. “I felt very positive about it. I am distressed by the adversarial relationship between the School Board and the superintendent. I want to make sure that does not continue with the new superintendent.”
Rak said he is running to keep the district advancing in its education of students.
“We just hired a new superintendent. I think he is a great fit for the district,” Rak said. “I don’t think we could have gotten a better candidate.”
Piskorski said he daughter entered the district at the start of Mark Fredisdorf’s tenure as superintendent, and that Fredisdorf did a lot of neat things. But he said a new foundation is needed.
He said he hopes to bring a sense of logic and balance to what goes on at the board level.
“Because I am not a parent of someone currently in the school system, it is not about my child. It is about all the children,” Piskorski said. “Sometimes people run because of challenges they have. I am not here to make a point. I don’t have any of those issue.
But he said he wants to ensure that there is not such an emphasis on test results that students’ overall school experiences are affected.
Piskorski said his teaching experience gives him a unique perspective.
“I have great empathy for people in the classroom teaching,” Piskorski said. “I come at it from the business perspective, bringing a business discipline and measuring results.”
A field instructor for Canon USA, Piskorski has lived in the district for 12 years.
Rak said he decided to toss his hat in the ring when he saw that there were only three people for four open positions. Rak said the district, under Fredisdorf, has fallen behind in some areas.
“There was no professional development for teachers,” Rak said. “But now, we have someone who moved up through the ranks.”
Rak’s son is a sophomore at Lyons Township High School, and his daughter is a sixth-grader at Pleasantdale Middle School.
Rak has a master’s degree in school business management and most recently served as business assistant for the church and preschool at Resurrection Lutheran.
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Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.