6-Way Race For 3 Seats On Oak Lawn-Hometown D123 Board: Election 2023

OAK LAWN, IL — The top three vote-getters in the six-way race will win three open seats on the Oak Lawn- Hometown District 123 school board in the April 4 consolidated election.

Two of the six — Ed Smykowski and Danielle Mobley — responded to the Patch questionnaire. The other candidates are incumbents Jennifer Fortier and Adriana Sebak, and challengers Natasha Miller Williams and Kifaya Naser-Hammad.

Smykowski is an electrical engineer and the married father of three. He considers safety, resources for learners at all levels, kids learning cohesively in their educational environment and allocating taxpayers’ money appropriately to the district’s most pressing needs.

“For safety, I plan to work with the Oak Lawn Police Department and ask them to perform walk-throughs at each of the six D123 schools to identify any security deficiencies that may exist and any enhancements that can be made," Smykowski said. "I will also request IT to create a Snap Com message to appear on each student’s Chrome Book which will read “See Something – Say Something” to reinforce the need to report any suspicious behavior at any level.

“For resources for learners at all levels, I intend to seek counsel from professional educational social workers to make sure that children with special learning requirements and needs have the appropriate number of staff and resources available to them within the school.”

Mobley is an attorney with for the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender’s Office. She’s a Reavis High School graduate with degrees in political science and legal studies from University of Illinois at Springfield, master’s in paralegal studies from George Washington University and a juris doctorate from John Marshall Law School (now UIC Law).

“The most pressing issues facing our district are learning loss and school safety. I intend to learn about different ways to deal with these issues from statistical data, teacher/student experiences, and looking at how other districts similar to ours handles these issues to see how we can improve on each issue," Mobley said. For example, our learning loss shows in regards to the data of 2022 scoring in Math and language arts. We are on par with growth in math and language arts, but are below average with proficiency in those areas as opposed to the state. To help improve on these numbers, I would look at what the districts who are excelling and seek out their curriculums to see what they are doing differently. Regarding school safety I would look at our current policies and see where we can improve both in first response and initial intervention programs. It is important that our schools in the district be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn without fear.”

The 2023 consolidated election is Tuesday, April 4. More storms and severe weather are possible later in the day, so you may want to head out early. You can find your ballot and polling place on the Cook County Clerk website.