Lake County Gazette

Lake Forest High School District 115 Board of Education member Sally Davis is running for re-election.

Davis, who has lived in Lake Bluff since 2004, is an attorney and has been on the board since 2015. 

"Since I joined the board in 2015, I am now the Board District 115 vice president and chair of finance and operations," Davis said during a recent forum hosted by the League of Women Voters. "I'm running for a second time because I'm so excited to continue building on the extraordinary achievement we made in recent years to give students the tools and important things they need to succeed in high school and beyond."

Davis said since 2015, the district has more than doubled the number of students taking honors and AP classes without any drop-off in their passing rate, making them a college board honorary district.

"We posted the highest ever school-wide ACT score and we've done it while maintaining the lowest tax rate in Lake County in a rare AAA bond rating," Davis said. "I'm not ignoring or minimizing in any way the awful year all of us, including our students, have had with coronavirus and lockdowns."

Davis said if she is re-elected, she wants to spend the rest of the year helping students finish strong.

"Now that they have been told that they are returning to full in-person learning for everyone who wants to be there, and 83% of our teachers are returning to the building, we have to normalize and heal so that we can finish strong," Davis said.

Davis said they also have the opportunities to make capital improvements to the buildings

"We know that and the pandemic has taught us some things that we didn't know when we started the master facilities plan," Davis said. "We will need to focus on how we want to configure the building, as soon as it's pandemic safe, but also helps get our kids launched into the 21st century."

Davis also said students need to learn in-person as much as possible, which is why when the administration recommended full-remote in the fall, she voted against it.

"One of the things we do to listen to our students, not only while they're still at the high school but after they've gone to college, is we actually sent out a survey and we asked them now that they have had time to reflect on their experience at Lake Forest High School now that they're in college," Davis siad. "One of the things they tell us is that they are phenomenally academically well prepared."

Davis said it is always heartwarming for her to see those who are deeply committed to the success of students.

"You are choosing the stewards of your children and tax money and those are sacred duties for us," Davis said.