Laurie Donahue is running for the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education in the 2025 Naperville Consolidated Election.
Laurie Donahue is a parent and worked in the telecom industry
I was elected to the Indian Prairie School Board in 2017 and 2021. For the past three and a half years I have served as the Board President.
Naperville has been my home with my husband for more than 40 years. I am grateful my two children had the opportunity to attend Indian Prairie schools from kindergarten through their high school graduations.
My professional background includes leading large, diverse, global, business and technical teams including a $1B procurement program and a $250M investment budget in the telecom industry. I earned a BS degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Benedictine University. Several years ago I retired to devote more time to the school district and to my volunteer activities. When there was a shortage, I signed up to be a substitute teacher. I’ve subbed at least once in 30 of our 33 schools over the past couple of years. Additionally, I spend a significant amount of time at Edwards Hospital or in the schools providing dog therapy support and comfort.
Donahue is running because she values the education her children experienced
My children had an excellent experience in our schools. I want to make sure this opportunity is available to current and future students in the district. We are a highly rated district striving to help every student achieve their greatest potential. I want to continue the history of using innovations that allow our students to thrive while they are in our district and beyond.
School districts are complex organizations. Decisions impact more than 26,000 students, families, staff, and the success of our community. While on the board I have devoted mysellf to learning, listening and tackling tough issues. To be successful in my professional career I built skills in negotiation, team building, leadership, and communications. All of these have been applied to support the myriad of topics occurring within the district and our board.
Donahue’s priorities are academics, teacher and staff retention, and financial governance
1) Continue to evolve the district to allow all students to achieve their best. This includes challenging students academically and supporting their emotional needs while providing an inclusive environment for everyone. Despite our efforts we continue to see some groups of students struggle. We need to continue to look for innovative ways to engage all students and prepare them for the future.
2) The number of people becoming teachers continues to decline. We need to extend efforts to attract and retain excellent staff and administrators. This involves furnishing our schools with resources and looking at ways to address class sizes.
3) The board will need to continue to have a significant role in financial governance. With the passage of the $420M referendum we have the opportunity to provide important upgrades to each of our buildings. This work and spending will need to be carefully managed. On the operating side, the district is still underfunded at 85% of adequacy as defined by the state formulas. We will need to continue to look for cost reductions, grants, and creative ways to achieve more with less.
A note from NCTV17
The written content above was submitted by the candidate. The video interview was produced by NCTV17 as part of the Meet the Candidates series. All candidates running for the 2025 Naperville Consolidated Election were interviewed using the same question format.
The placement of this interview on our website does not represent an endorsement of the candidate.
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