We asked each candidate to answer questions on topics important to the Senn High School community. Below are their answers.
Sean Johnson Andrews
(pronouns: he / him / his)
Running for: Parent Representative
About the Candidate
In just a few sentences, please tell us about yourself.
I am a former college professor with 25 years of experience in curriculum design and delivery.
What is your relationship to Senn?
Our daughter is a 10th grader in the Senn Arts Program. Our kids have been in CPS for over ten years, first at Peirce Elementary School, where I have been very active in parent groups working for racial and LGBTQ equity. Peirce also offers an International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, which is a key attribute of the programs here at Senn. Last year, I was active in the work preventing the Senn Arts Program from being fundamentally changed due to administrative neglect.
Why do you want to be on the Senn LSC?
I want to make sure the LSC performs its role in overseeing budget and policy, holds the administration accountable for their actions, and to maintain the quality and integrity of the Senn High School.
Do you have any previous experience on a Local School Council? If so, tell us about it.
While I have not served on a Local School Council before, I am familiar with the processes and protocols, the district level resources and requirements, and the important role that an LSC should play in both supporting the school administration and keeping them accountable to the students, teachers, parents, and communities they are supposed to serve. I have attended several LSC meetings where representatives did not demand the appropriate level of accountability for the administration.
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:
As a parent representative on the LSC, I want to work to support the teachers, students, and staff to ensure that Senn High School to provide an excellent IB curriculum & one of the best Arts Programs in the city; protects students who may be targeted by ICE/BP raids; provides equity and support for our immigrant, low-income, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ students; and demands the excellence and accountability of the school leadership that we expect them to demand of our students, teachers, and staff.
Q2. What core values do you hope to uphold as a member of the LSC?
Candidate Answer:
Adherence to district policies, accountability to the community, and aspiration to greatness.
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 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 entails not only explaining what has happened but what will be done in the future to address any concerns. This matters the most when there is a failure or misstep by the leadership at the school or a problem or problematic event that occurs on school grounds or in the school community. In these cases, transparency and accountability are especially important.
Q5. What is your understanding of CPS's policies regarding ICE and federal agents in school buildings?
Candidate Answer:
They are not allowed in the school building without a judicial warrant. And given that most of the occupants are under 18, I don't believe they are allowed to serve a warrant on school grounds without some notification to that minor's guardians.
Q6. What kind of leadership would you expect to see from the principal when federal agents target our neighborhood and families?
Candidate Answer:
I would expect that leadership restrain federal incursions as much as possible, and in cases where they are unable to prevent it, they should be forthcoming about the events that transpired and explain steps they will take in the future.
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:
I would prioritize concerns of quality, accessibility, and equity.
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:
I have not served on Senn's LSC, but I believe that the budget should be transparent down to every line item for the LSC, particularly for any additional funds collected through measures such as school fees, which should be used in an accountable and transparent way to serve the school community. In so far as the LSC is supposed to approve budgets, the members should be given adequate information and time for discussion before any approval vote.
Q9. What should the role of the LSC be if the principal attempts to quietly make changes without transparency or community input?
Candidate Answer:
If the principal is trying to make those changes quietly, the role of the LSC is to make some noise.
Q10. When families consistently learn important information from outside sources rather than school leadership, what should the LSC do?
Candidate Answer:
Again, demand transparency and accountability.
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:
I think all of these measures are interrelated, but the significant weakness of the effective leaders score indicates a particular problem that, if addressed, could raise some of these other scores as well.
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:
As was done at Peirce Elementary, I would advocate for the establishment of affinity groups and/or listening sessions with groups that might be disproportionately harmed. At Senn, the actual functioning of the Parent Advisory Committee - which until recently has not even been established - would also be a vector for this, particularly in relation to low-income students and their families. + Reaching out to any of the student groups that might represent significantly marginalized populations.
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:
I believe many of the themes here point to some of the main indicators: budget and policy transparency and accountability are paramount. Many of the failures of the present administration are made worse because no one takes responsibility and works to ensure they won't happen again.
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.