We asked each candidate to answer questions on topics important to the Senn High School community. Below are their answers.
Mara Blesoff
(pronouns: they / them)
Running for: Community Representative
About the Candidate
In just a few sentences, please tell us about yourself.
Hi, I’m Mara. I’m a group therapist for young adults and a Senn neighbor in my 30s committed to deeper community involvement. I collaborate across differences, ask thoughtful questions, synthesize complex ideas, and keep meetings focused and productive. I bring a steady, positive approach and believe strong schools are built through accountability, transparency, and shared effort.
What is your relationship to Senn?
Since last fall, I’ve served as an admin for ICE response organizing surrounding Senn. I’ve worked with school leaders, staff, parents, and students to strengthen communication and develop a clear ICE response protocol. I’m also a grateful neighbor who values Senn as a vibrant community space and cultural anchor.
Why do you want to be on the Senn LSC?
My involvement with Senn neighbors, parents, and teachers deepened during the recent ICE crisis this past fall. I witnessed firsthand the importance of strong partnership—and accountability—between leadership and community. The LSC is where that work explicitly happens. I want to bring a community member perspective, strengthen community engagement beyond crisis moments (e.g. more neighbors at amazing student performances), and help ensure Senn’s leadership remains transparent and responsive.
Do you have any previous experience on a Local School Council? If so, tell us about it.
I’ve attended LSC meetings and spoken to the council regarding ICE presence and lack of communication and clarity from the school. That advocacy led to ongoing collaboration with school leadership, teachers, and students on ICE response planning. As for holding a seat on an LSC, that’s something I hope to have the chance to do in the near future.
Where Your Candidate Stands
We asked each candidate a series of questions that important to the Senn High School community. Their answers are below.
Q1. What do you believe are the responsibilities of a Local School Council?
Candidate Answer:
The LSC is a body of accountability. As a therapist, I understand the power of a thoughtful question in accountability processes. Questions can illuminate new information and, when needed, make truth more accessible. LSC members approve the CIWP, oversee the budget, and evaluate the principal. A core responsibility in service of those tasks is asking clear, informed questions and ensuring information is accessible so families and staff can trust school leadership and decision-making.
Q2. What core values do you hope to uphold as a member of the LSC?
Candidate Answer:
My guiding values as an LSC member would be transparency, student-centered decision-making, and collaboration across differences. I believe strong schools are built when decisions are clear, inclusive, and grounded in what best supports students’ emotional, social, and academic growth.
Q3. All Parent and Community LSC members are required to complete 9 mandatory training sessions within six months of taking office.
- If you are a current or former LSC member, have you completed all your training sessions?
- If you have not served on an LSC before, do you commit to competing all 9 training sessions within six months of taking office?
(Candidates were given a matrix of preselected answers. Below are the answers they selected)
Candidate Answer:
- I have never been an LSC member.
- I commit to completing all the required trainings within six months of taking office.
Q4. What does effective communication for a principal entail, in your eyes? In what moments does principal communication matter most?
Candidate Answer:
Effective communication is clear, consistent, and culturally sensitive. Strong everyday systems build trust so that messages are credible and actionable during crises. Thanks to ICE activity, I learned that communication matters most in times of uncertainty or safety concerns--times when people need timely, accurate information. Effective communication in diverse communities must be accessible in relevant languages and mindfully considers important religious and cultural events.
Q5. What is your understanding of CPS's policies regarding ICE and federal agents in school buildings?
Candidate Answer:
Schools are meant to be safe spaces for all students. According to CPS guidance, CPS schools do not ask about immigration status, do not coordinate with ICE, do not share student records, and do not allow federal agents access without a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge. These policies, and my own approach to community survival, inform the work I have already done to help develop the Senn ICE response protocol as a guest of the Senn sanctuary committee.
Q6. What kind of leadership would you expect to see from the principal when federal agents target our neighborhood and families?
Candidate Answer:
Protection and preparedness must come first. A principal should ensure clear protocols, staff training, coordinated communication, and access to legal guidance. Families deserve reassurance that student safety—physical and emotional—is the top priority, and that leadership is proactive, not reactive.
Q7. LSC members are responsible for developing and monitoring the school's improvement plan (CIWP), which includes goals around academic success. Describe your understanding of Senn's academic programs. What academic priorities will you emphasize in your role on the LSC?
Candidate Answer:
The CIWP should strengthen alignment across school programs and ensure resources match priorities. Senn offers robust academic pathways including Senn Arts, IB, English Learner, and Diverse Learner supports. I am curious as to how the school can create synthesis among academic pathways so that students are less siloed across programs. As is in line with CIWP priorities, I would emphasize ambitious instruction, equitable access, and measurable outcomes tied directly to budget decisions.
Q8. One of the key responsibilities of the LSC is aligning the school's budget to the CIWP.
- If you are or have been a Senn LSC representative, provide an example or two of what you have done to ensure both ongoing and annual budgetary transparency?
- For candidates who have not served on Senn's LSC: Describe your approach to budget accountability, transparency, and oversight.
Candidate Answer:
Every budget decision should answer: How does this support students? Which students would most benefit? I would ground decisions in the CIWP, seek input from educators closest to implementation, and prioritize transparency. With limited resources, clarity about goals and measurable impact must guide spending choices.
Q9. What should the role of the LSC be if the principal attempts to quietly make changes without transparency or community input?
Candidate Answer:
In short: make it known. According to CPS, “LSCs serve as an important vehicle for participatory democracy.” If a principal or other school leader attempts to undermine that democracy by operating in secrecy, it is the LSC's job to bring that to light and ensure future transparency. This can be done, again, by asking relevant and clear questions to highlight the facts and truth of school and admin operations. (Source: CPS website)
Q10. When families consistently learn important information from outside sources rather than school leadership, what should the LSC do?
Candidate Answer:
Again, my instinct is to ask questions: What failed? Which systems need strengthening? What will it take to restore trust in school leadership? Questions such as these can help illuminate the right next steps.
Q11. The 5Essentials Survey (link), developed by the University of Chicago in collaboration with CPS, identifies strengths and weaknesses across five areas:
- Effective Leaders (Score: 28, Weak)
- Collaborative Teachers (Score: 47, Neutral)
- Involved Families (Score: 40, Neutral)
- Supportive Environment (Score: 50, Neutral)
- Ambitions Instruction (Not scored due to data error)
What stands out to you and what action steps would you take as an LSC representative to address the challenge areas?
Candidate Answer:
The “Effective Leaders” score stands out to me. Leadership drives culture and trust. As an LSC member, I would advocate for clear leadership benchmarks to be included in CIWP and structured feedback channels for staff, families, and students.
Q12. Describe your approach to equity. How would you ensure that decisions made by the LSC support and do not proportionally harm Black, Latino, Indigenous, immigrant, or low-income students? What systems and practices would you support to make sure marginalized voices are not just heard, but actually shape outcomes?
Candidate Answer:
Implicit bias exists in all systems. It's essential to ask questions to challenge what is easily overlooked, like: Who, specifically, is benefitting? Who bears the burden? Whose voices have shaped this data? Whether it is through surveys, listening sessions, advisory roles, or informal conversations at school events -- input from BIPOC, Latino, immigrant, low-income, and other underrepresented families must be heard so impacted communities shape outcomes, not just respond to them.
Q13. One of the key responsibilities of LSC members is to evaluate the school's principal. This LSC term will coincide with the contract renewal timeframe for Senn's principal. Describe how you will approach this responsibility.
What key performance indicators should be the primary focus factors when deciding whether to renew a principal's contract.
Candidate Answer:
Principal evaluation should be evidence-based and aligned to CIWP goals. I would review academic growth, climate data, staff retention, communication practices, and equity outcomes. As someone who has previously participated in LSC meetings, I would also advocate for time to be used at LSC meetings to listen to feedback from community members on the matter. The process should be transparent and focused on whether leadership builds trust, improves outcomes, and responds to community feedback.
Additional Candidate Materials
Candidates were offered the opportunity to provide the public with additional materials to be displayed on their profile page. Those materials are provided here.