Itzel Chavero
Six candidates are running to fill four seats in the D200 Board of Education of Oak Park River Forest High School in the upcoming local election happening April 1.
One of those candidates is incumbent Audrey Williams-Lee, who is looking for re-election. In July 2023, Williams-Lee was appointed to the school board after the resignation of a member.
She says that one the main reasons leading her to run again is her two sons, a current student and a 2019 graduate.
“For me, giving back to the community is important,” she said. “And I have a lot of passion around education, because education is just transformative, particularly public education.”
Williams-Lee prioritizes addressing achievement gaps between student demographics such as race or economic status. This includes the new de–tracking system the school beganhwith freshmen.
While de–tracking has only been in place at the high school since 2022, Williams-Lee believes some of the change through this new system can already be seen in the increase in the number of students taking higher level classes.
“The idea is that when they go to sophomore, junior, senior, they will feel more comfortable to take more honors classes and take more AP classes,” she said. “And we are seeing that happen.”
She also acknowledges that there is some work yet to still be done when it comes to specifically addressing the achievement gap with the Black and Latino students at OPRF. Williams-Lee said the majority of the students getting Ds and Fs in their grades come from a Black or Latino background.
The program is still very young to see the data of the complete results of de–tracking and will be reflected with the graduation of OPRF class of 2026.
In her agenda to prioritize students, she also wants to ensure parents in the OPRF community feel heard and listened to in the decision making of issues concerning the school. In an attempt to make communication easier between the board and parents, Williams-Lee highlights the creation of board dialogues.
In coordination with board meetings, board dialogues are separate sessions designed to “meet parents where they are” and answer their questions or address any feedback from them.
In light of President Donald Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, Williams-Lee stated the importance DEI has on her new agenda as member of the board but also in her personal life.
Williams-Lee took on the role of Chief People Officer of Lurie’s Children Hospital of Chicago in which she also oversaw their DEI team. She credits her experience to addressing diversity in different fields on trying to learn and understand people from diverse backgrounds.
“When it comes to thinking about equity, for me, that’s about recognition that not everybody starts at the same place at the starting line. It’s not about promoting anything that’s unqualified,” she said. “As a Black person, that really offends me that people think that when you put diversity in there, then that suddenly becomes that we’re like lowering standards.”
Shedding light on popular concerns amongst candidates Williams-Lee wants to make clear the wellbeing and benefit of students is the center of existence of the board.
“Everybody has this passion around kids and I believe everyone understands the importance of putting kids first and making sure that that’s our guiding principle,” she said.
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