Meet the Decatur school board candidates

Jan 28, 2024

Otto C. Keil Administration building

DECATUR — After an eventful and often controversial year in the Decatur school district, eight candidates have come forward to run for the school board who all say they want to mend the board's relationship with the community.

Three seats are up for the April 4 election. Those seats are currently held by board President Andrew Taylor and board members Regan Lewis and Bill Clevenger.

During late 2021 and the first months of 2022, the board negotiated in closed session and discussed plans to build a new Dennis School in violation of the Open Meetings Act, settling on Lincoln Park as the new school's location, though that plan was discarded when the Decatur Park District declined to sell the land to the district. After the news came out about the plan, a group formed to oppose it, and eventually contacted the Attorney General to review closed-meeting recordings and minutes. The Attorney General's office directed the board to release those documents after determining that the board had been in violation of the Open Meetings Act for the second time in two years.

This is the second school board election in which the three candidates elected four years ago are not seeking reelection. The four board members whose seats are not up for election this time were all elected for the first time in that election in 2020, which means that after the election, the most experience on the board will be those four, with two years under their belts.

Clevenger is the retired executive director of the Decatur Park District who has been a resident of the area for more than three decades. He was appointed to his board seat in September to finish the term of former President Dan Oakes, who resigned and moved out of state.

"I've long had a keen interest in education in our community and I think the school system is really the backbone of the future of our community," Clevenger said. "It provides the future workforce. It's the future of our kids."

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, fourth- and eighth-graders have fallen behind in reading and math.

Clevenger was not employed by the park district when the decision was made not to make land available in Lincoln Park for the new school and was not a member of the school board when the deal was discussed.

A regular visitor to Board of Education meetings, Will Wetzel, 37, is an information technology professional at Archer Daniels Midland Co. This is his second run for office. He ran unsuccessfully for city council in 2021.

"I believe we can do better for our kids, for our teachers, for our staff," Wetzel said. "The school board is at the crux of so many issues, everything from how well we do economically to how employers look at us, everything from crime to safety, the school board has a lot to do with that."

Mark Reynolds, is a retired investment broker for Wells Fargo Advisors and is currently working as a substitute teacher at area schools, including those in the Decatur School District.

For Reynolds, an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal in June was the impetus to run for the school board. That piece characterized Illinois schools in general, and Decatur schools in particular, as "failing."

"It was embarrassing for the community," Reynolds said. "I'd like to do something to raise the quality of education for kids here in Decatur."

Jacob Jenkins also frequently attends school board meetings and has twice before run for public office: for mayor of Decatur in 2019 and city council in 2021. He was unsuccessful both times.

"Transparency has been a big issue over the past few board cycles, and I want to make sure that we're doing right by our taxpayers," said Jenkins, an employee of the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Hannah Wolfe, 28, is the daughter of Mayor Julie Moore-Wolfe and WAND News' Doug Wolfe. She is a human resources information systems analyst for Memorial Health.

"I'm running because the schools are the foundation of this community, and I want to help improve them," Wolfe said. "We have so many great things happening in this community, but those great things can only succeed if our kids do. I don't have an agenda, but as a board member, I want to focus on strengthening the relationships between the board and the community and building our future workforce."

Misty Fronk, 45, has lived in Decatur since 2011. She was born in California and raised in Indiana. What prompted her to run, she said, is statistics on Illinois education.

"I saw statistics that in the state of Illinois' graduating seniors, 9 percent can read and write and do math at grade level," Fronk said. "This failure for them to read, write and do math is all on parents and teachers. Voters vote in the school board and we are failing the children, not making sure they're getting what they need to have a productive life."

As program director for Youth With a Positive Direction, Jalynn Walker is familiar with the issues that face at-risk students. She is also an intern funeral director and mortician at Walker Funeral Service and Chapel.

"I'm a former student of District 61, a parent of students in District 61, and a community leader of several at-risk students who are in the community," said Walker, 32. "My goal is to see this district flourish, reaching the goals of students, parents and the community as a whole."

Datrice Weathers, 48, is a long-term substitute teacher at Hope Academy, a job she loves. She's also director of Youth and Family Services at The Salvation Army.

"I really have a passion for education," Weathers said. "I just believe that education is the pathway to a good life, to being successful, and you can be educated in various ways, not just the traditional way."

The board, she said, could benefit if someone who is "on the inside" of the community, with a good rapport with the community, was on the board to bring that perspective to decision-making. She formerly worked with Juvenile Redeploy, a program to help young people at risk for incarceration.

"I saw so many areas that needed to be addressed, that I went into the schools to help in a more meaningful way," she said.

1974: Freshman Vince Barnett, a former Decatur MacArthur High School player, is a member of the junior varsity basketball squad at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

1978: Barb Tate, 17-year-old spring graduate of MacArthur High School, continued to leave the field gasping in her wake with a final round of 79 at Scovill Golf Course to capture the championship of the 50th Decatur Herald & Review City Women's Amateur golf tournament with a 54-hole total of 245.

1983: Chris, left, and Mike Woody are identical twins who play for Stephen Decatur High School. Coach Ed Boehm said he had trouble telling them apart, "So I decided to put them both at linebacker. That way I could just yell: 'Hey, Woody.' " Chris leads the team with 74 tackles. Mike is second with 65.

1981: Shelbyville High School receiver Drew Woodruff was on target in the opener against Sullivan. Woodruff nabbed a 60-year touchdown pass from quarterback Trey Cox in the first quarter. It turned out to be the winning score.

1988: Former MacArthur High School band director Bob Kruzan has been a driving force behind a program of putting musical instruments in the hands of students who could not afford to buy or rent instruments. Kruzan asked the Kiwanis Club for help and with Thompson-Kramer Music Co., 22 instruments were donated and repaired. The Kiwanis Club provided $1,000 for repairs.

1982: In February, the day after the Decatur Board of Education voted to close their school, a group of juniors from Lakeview High School painted the words 'LHS lives on forever' on the concrete abutment adjacent to Cerro Gordo Street overlooking East William Street Road. It was meant as an expression of loyalty, however, others thought it was an eyesore. So in April, students showed up to give the wall a solid coat of paint, covering the graffiti. In the foreground is Gary Weeks.

1967: Rich Edwards, left, and John Campbell, right operate TV cameras at Lakeview High School. At the high school, television is more than just viewing educational or entertaining programs. Classes are being videotaped and played back with the aim of aiding teachers in improved teaching methods.

1977: The Eisenhower High School Band was out in force and in full regalia during the Labor Day parade.

1980: Eisenhower High School won the city public school volleyball championship by compiling a 3-0 record. Front row, from left, assistant Coach Rosemary Anthony, Kelly Quinlan, Amy Webb, Margie Simon, Sheri Smith, Coach Chuck Force and Manager Donna Pratt. Back row, Ann Wasilewski, Reeni McElyea, Karen Woolen, Julie DePesa and Lori Boland.

1982: Stephen Decatur High School relay runners will be featured in the girls Area Best track and field meet at Millikin University. The 400, 800 and 1,600 relay groups set school records in winning in the MacArthur district meet. The runners, from left, Susie Hunt, Beth Schumacher, Debbie Schile, Michelle Morthland, Debra Thomas and Earline Allen.

1958: A class in the homemaking department at Eisenhower High School is shown taking a test, with desk chairs scattered in a large room created by opening the folding partitions which separate three classrooms.

1943: Decatur and Pana high school seniors are among those who are being trained in preparation for jobs in war industries in the new program offered at the NYA war production center. Operating lathes in the machine shop at the center are, Lorna Hemphill and Mary Eleanor Dembow, Pana High School. In the foreground, from left are Gerald Moore and Bill Medley, St. Teresa High School.

1984: Linda Kingston, 17; Mark Muschal, 16; and Amanda Harres, 17, prepare for one of the actis for Eisenhower High School's fall talent show, 'Sights and Sounds of '84.' The performance will feature all-student talent.

1962: Students are served lunch at Eisenhower High School. Thirty-one tons of hamburger and two million half pints of milk are just part of the annual grocery order put in for Decatur public school cafeterias. Each school day, more than 4,250 meals are served by 90 women in 17 cafeterias. Helen G. Hill is the cafeteria director who is behind the entire operation.

DATE UNKNOWN: Students work in the forge and blacksmith department at Decatur High School.

1979: St. Teresa High School cheerleaders, front row from left, Tonya Burke, Joanie Yonker and Julie Bollero. Second row: Mary Turner, Kay Turner, Peggy McCarthy and Cathy Kaelin. Not pictured is Heidi Arseneault.

1962: Four Eisenhower High School players named to then Herald & Review All-City Football Squad. From left, Paul Shaw, tackle; Doug Smith, halfback; Carl Hanson, tackle; and Jim Harvey, lineman.

1990: Fighting for the quarterback position at Eisenhower High School are, from left, Julian Watson, Maxie Johnson and Todd Jacobs.

1981: Offensive and defensive backs for MacArthur High School's football team are, from left, Danny Lee, Kyle Risby and Terry Spence.

1975: Matt Tyner, MacArthur High School quarterback, left, gives some instructions to his starting backfield teammates in preparation for the Generals' big game against crosstown rival Eisenhower at Matheson Field. Listening to Tyner are running backs Carl Spence, Zannie Rawls and Art Perkins.

1984: Eisenhower High School's girls bowling team was 11th in the state tournament after an 11-1 record during the regular season. Eisenhower won the sectional tournament with an all-time high six-game score for a Decatur team – 4,908. At top, from left, Lori Holt, Melinda Poe, Barb Wuellner, Darla Henry, Valerie Bonnell; bottom, Sharmil Ford, Linda Wuellner, Carolyn Thommas, Kim Cookson and Julie Boatz. Thommas was 17th individually in the state tournament.

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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Education Reporter

Education reporter for the Herald & Review.

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