Lake County Gazette

Lake Forest High School District 115 Board candidate Joanna Marshall said her heart is in Lake Forest.

"Lake Forest is where my heart is," Marshall said during a recent forum hosted by the League of Women Voters. "It's where I grew up, it's where I went to school and it's set the foundations for who I am today."

Marshall said she's grateful to the town for all it's done for her.

"As I saw my kids move through the school system, I began asking a lot of questions and then I discovered a lot of other members in the community were asking the same questions as well and that's what brought me to where I am today running for the school board," Marshall said.

Marshall said she will use her skills as a top female executive for a $14 billion company if she is elected to the board.

"It's all these skills that I have right now that I think would make me an excellent member for the Board of Education," Marshall said.

Marshall said one of her priorities is getting students back to school for full-time in-person learning.

"Obviously the number one, without a doubt, is students and getting the students back safe — getting them back as soon as possible and having them stay there and that means making sure that they go back in the fall five days a week 100% of the time," Marshall said. "Getting them acclimated, getting them adjusted and getting them back to sports, and listening to those students."

Marshall said students currently don't have a voice. She said students are her first priority.

"Second is fiscal responsibility — no more tax increases," Marshall said. "I've spent a career in cost savings. I think that we have plenty of money right now to do what we need to do in this community and grow schools and make them academically superior. I also want transparency and a three-legged stool needs to operate in this town — you have to have the administration, the teachers and the community all together and can't have one leg missing or the stool won't stand."

Marshall said a great deal of work is ahead for the board to address the students' social and emotional needs.

"We have a great deal of work ahead of us in order to make sure that the students, when they come back, are very socially and emotionally stable," Marshall said.

Marshall said diversity and inclusion are also important.

"I think we need to have and maintain an environment that is inclusionary and ... I am an absolute big believer in inclusionary learning," Marshall said. 

Marshall also said she'd built her life-long career on doing more with less and believes the school board should not raise taxes and needs to be fiscally responsible.

"I think that's a big focus of what we need to do and make sure that we don't raise any taxes," Marshall said