‘Invested interest’ for his kids and all students in Proviso led Fisher to run for D209 board
As the father of a two-year-old toddler and with a baby on the way, William Fisher said it is his “invested interest” in the well-being of Proviso Township High School District 209 that led to his candidacy for one of the four available seats on the board of education in the April 1 election.
His goal is to change the narrative he has heard of Proviso high schools since his arrival in Forest Park almost three years ago.
Fisher, 35, moved to Forest Park with his family from Kentucky and it was during his search for the perfect home that his Realtor told him many families tend to move or send their children to a different school district by the time high school comes around.
“As my work lets me know, we can change these things,” Fisher said. “A school district is a living thing to some extent and so practices, policies, curriculum, support all these things can be changed to help improve schools.”
After one too many negative comments regarding the district, he knew he had to act.
“You’re judging where we choose to raise a family so my thought was ‘well now I have to get involved to prove all these people wrong because Proviso is great,’” Fisher told Forest Park Review. “We have a lot of lovely communities and villages that do a lot of things to support not just families but everyone within their life course. It is just a nice place to live.”
Fisher, who holds a bachelor’s in history and masters in sociology from Texas A&M, now works at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center as a research scientist in education and child development. He also holds a doctorate degree in sociology from the University of Kentucky.
It is a background he believes makes him a great candidate for one of the seats on the board of education for D209.
With his eyes on one of those four coveted seats, Fisher said his top concerns in the district are safety, evaluation of best practices and ensuring students are well prepared for the future of work and labor markets.
Safety, he said, should extend to both students and faculty, to students who are bullied for having English as their second language and to other issues such as decreasing the number of students who roam the hallways instead of going to class.
Best practices need to be ensured to be actual best practices, he said.
“To figure out what is working and what is not working and if something is not working, drop it in a cost efficient and effective way,” Fisher said. “Then investing in strategies, curriculum, supports and resources that work and provide the best benefit for students. But this is using data and research to say, ‘for our population, here is what we find.’”
Giving students the opportunity to know and get head starts on future labor market trends will also set them up for additional success, Fisher said. He is also paying attention to community concerns, which he said have included cuts to support systems and the future of supports given looming federal education spending cuts as well.
Fisher also echoes community concern over some current board members, who without naming, said he believes they do not act in a “productive manner for the benefit of students and staff.”
As part of the new batch of Proviso 209 United slate mates, Fisher said in an ideal scenario the whole slate is elected, which occurred during the 2023 board election with the previous Proviso 209 United slate — composed of new board members David Ocampo, Sandra Hixson and Jennifer Barbahen — who won the open seats and ended the 20-year run of former board member Theresa Kelly.
Being a parent whose children will attend Proviso gives Fisher the motivation to see the district excel, and the community is responding to the idea of parents being on the board, he said.
“We have heard that because we are parents not necessarily tied to politicians or we don’t have mayors who are pushing an agenda or other politicians who are pushing an agenda that it is a positive,” Fisher said.
But Fisher said he is already to work alongside whoever is elected and with his vast experience in the education sector, he is sure he will help address concerns within the district.
“We have an incentive to make the schools the best they can be, not just for our kids but for all kids in the district, those who are going to the schools now but also in the future,” Fisher said. “To do that, I want to lend my expertise and my experience in education. My entire professional career has been in education in some shape or form and I want to use that to make the schools the best they can be.”
