Kane County Reporter

Batavia resident Jeff Ekstrom is running for a seat on the Batavia Unit District 101 school board.

The 54-year-old candidate is an airline pilot who said he is bringing his leadership skills to the board to help raise student proficiency rates which have been declining in a period of half a decade. 

“I am running for Batavia School Board because I have seen a decline in Batavia students' performance levels during the last five years,” Ekstrom told the Kane County Reporter. “The proficiency rate has dropped from 61% in 2017 to 42% in 2022 per the Illinois Report Card website. The focus needs to get back to educating the students and making sure they are proficient in all academics. I also want to bring trust and transparency back to the taxpayers of Batavia.”

Ekstrom recommends that there should be fiscal responsibility and accountability for the taxpayers of Batavia which he said can be achieved by bringing “the focus back to academic excellence throughout the Batavia school district," by increasing students' proficiency in ELA and math scores. 

He suggested, "The school board should be accessible and transparent not only to parents but [to] students and teachers as well." 

Ekstrom has two children. One of his children attends Batavia High School. The other child has special needs and attends a therapeutic day school through the Batavia School district special needs program. Ekstrom has been a pilot for more than three decades. His said his profession allows him to deal with challenging situations. He said he gets continuous training every nine months on leadership and problem-solving. 

"As a captain that flies a B-787 internationally, I have up to 14 crew members I manage and lead," Ekstrom said. "I do not fly with the same crew members every flight, therefore I am required to be able to manage different people and situations every time I go to work. We are trained in leadership to listen to others to get their input and to include everyone’s opinion. Then, we are trained to problem solve and use all assets available to solve the situation. I have also held numerous positions in our local pilots union over the years and have extensive leadership training. I believe it is important to listen very well to others and ask questions to fix what is wrong. I will utilize those leadership skills if I am elected to the school board.” 

Ekstrom told the Daily Herald that as a school board member, he will make himself available to his constituents. “If elected to the Batavia school board, I will always have an open-door policy. Listen and communicate effectively with all from parents, students, and staff,” he said.

Ekstrom is one of a field of seven running for three seats. The other candidates are Raquel Gonzalez-Thomas, Danielle Sligar, Jeffery Robert Arulandu, Cathy Dremel, Kris Rayman, and Gabrielle Fender.   

Batavia Unit District 101 is comprised of eight schools overseeing the education of 5,441 students. It employs 367 classroom teachers.