After seeing the way the school year has gone for District 118 staff and students, Harsha Gurujal says that he wants to hold district officials responsible for their actions and also get students back on track with what they have missed.
Gurujal, who is a food-service manager, is one of two newcomers who are challenging four incumbent District 118 school board members in the April 6th election. He is a critic of district superintendent Dr. Alicia Geddis. He says Geddis is overpaid and that she did not make the right decisions heading into the new school year, as students had to start learning after Labor Day.
“There was (sic) a lot of things that were still undecided as of the August school board meeting when students were supposed to be in school the next week,” he explains. “Nobody knew what was going to happen, and I blame the superintendent for that.”
Gurujal says that the district did not do enough to engage parents during the school year, pointing to the low response rate for online district surveys throughout the school year. He does say that many of the teachers in the district did a good job during the year, as they were able to teach students even though it was difficult.
“I applaud them for their efforts, and we have to figure out how to engage kids,” he says. “Learning has to be fun. As a school board, as a superintendent, it is our responsibility to help our teachers be creative, help our teachers get out there and get the families involved.”
Gurujal says that the district should be preparing students for work as well as college, noting that there are many jobs in the food service industry and elsewhere. He also says that officials should prioritize building needs, saying that several buildings have had water problems and that those need to be addressed.
You can listen to the full interview with Harsha Gurujal here.
