Candidates for the Homer Elementary District 33C Board said two of the district’s six schools have been awarded an exemplary ranking, making them among the top 10% of schools statewide, and the district will continue pushing to elevate the rest of the schools to that level.
Six candidates are running for four 4-year seats on the board, including incumbents Aaron J. Wolf and Melissa Chandarana and challengers Joshua Oster, Bobbi Medina, Jennifer Trzos-Consolino and Elizabeth Miceli.
Only three candidates — Chandarana, Wolf and Oster — attended a candidates’ forum Thursday sponsored by the Homer Junior High and Hadley Middle School parent-teacher organizations. District 33C serves more than 3,700 students from preschool to eighth grade.
The three candidates shared their beliefs on the successes and goals of the district along with the importance of public education. They also addressed concerns if the federal Department of Education is dissolved.
Incumbents Chandarana and Wolf said Butler Elementary School and Homer Junior High School have each been awarded the top exemplary ranking as part of the Illinois Report Card while the other four district schools were given a commendable ranking, the second highest.
The commendable rank is given to schools that have no underperforming student groups, a graduation rank higher than 67% but whose performance is not in the top 10% in the state. The four schools on the commendable list missed exemplary status by fewer than three points, district documents said.
Chandarana cited school report card data that shows proficiency in English/language arts, math and science exceeds the state and has been trending upward in the last few years.
In 2024, 63.9% of district students met proficiency standards in English/language arts compared to 39.4% of the state’s students, according to Illinois Report Card. In math, 49.6% of district students were proficient compared to 27.9% across the state. In science, the district saw 73.6% of its students meet proficiency standards, compared to 52.7% statewide.
Chandarana said the successes need to be celebrated and the district should continue addressing absenteeism and push its students upward.
“We want to be known as a desirable area with high-achieving schools,” Chandarana said.
Wolf said the schools given a commendable rating are on the cusp of rising to exemplary and the district is continuing to focus on areas where there is an opportunity to grow. He praised district administrators for analyzing data to drive improvement.
“The most important goal to me is student achievement, empowering all students for academic success,” Wolf said. “Our teachers have done an amazing job putting in tremendous amounts of work, testing new resources, collaborating on teaching methods and working on these priority standards.”
Oster is the assistant principal of student services at Lockport High School District 205 and has been a career educator, working in various capacities including as a special education teacher, behavior specialist, department chair and wrestling coach. He has spent most of his teaching career working with students with emotional disabilities, he said.
Public education is the bedrock of the community, said Oster, who is working on a doctorate in educational leadership. He said he served as a community member on District 33C’s special education committee to ensure needs of students, families and staff are represented. He is also excited for new accelerated programs in the district.
The school board should be dedicated to improving learning for all children, he said.
“Public schools are the center of and most identifiable part of many communities,” Oster said.
Chandarana said the district is preparing future-ready students for the world. Special education is one important issue for her.
““Public education allows the opportunity to bring students from various backgrounds together allowing each student to learn about other cultures and other perspectives,” Chandarana said. “It builds a skilled workforce, reduces poverty and hopefully builds a lifelong passion for learning and continued growth in our ever-changing world.”
The district needs to continue its path but faces challenges, the candidates said.
Wolf said the district recognizes the board needs to make sure class sizes are low. The district also must adapt to a teacher and bus driver shortage, he said.
“It’s no secret that our community continues to grow as we see more housing developments popping up,” he said. “While our community grows and people are attracted to this area, we have to be conscious of the burden that could potentially be put on the school system.”
The district is in the process of expanding Homer Junior High and Hadley Middle School and is carefully evaluating needs of the elementary schools, Wolf said.
“It’ll be one of my priorities on the board in the next four years, if elected, how we accommodate this potential growth in a fiscally responsible way with community input,” Wolf said.
Chandarana said the community doesn’t have a diversified tax base, so it’s important to work within its financial constraints.
“How do we continue to have good schools and keep our taxes low with limited commercial development,” she said.
She, too, noted the teacher shortage and said the district has to ensure teachers have competitive salaries while staying within the district’s budget.
She said she looks at how the district engages with the community in two different ways, as a school board member and a mom.
Candidates were asked their concerns if the federal Department of Education were abolished.
One of the responsibilities of the federal department is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provides money to help serve students with disabilities.
All three candidates said it is hard to predict the local impact of a dissolved education department. They said if they are on the board, they would not cut special education services.
Afterward, the three candidates said it was unfortunate the others running in the race did not attend the PTO-sponsored forum.
Chandarana said she enjoys meeting with stakeholders and being accessible as a board member.
“I love when I hear from the community,” she said.
Oster said he enjoys talking about public education and “the power of it to transform kids’ lives.”
Trzos-Consolino, who is a sitting Homer Glen trustee, Medina and Miceli did not return emails Friday seeking comment on their candidacies.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
