South Cook News

Robbins Police Chief David Sheppard is running for the Evergreen Park ESD 124 school board.

Sheppard is an advocate for special needs students whose son is autistic and non-verbal. He decided to run because, he claims the school system mistreated and neglected his son’s condition. He is running on a three-pillar platform.

“The main focus and the main reason why I'm running is because of my child, he’s 9, he is non-verbal autistic,” he told South Cook News. “For the last couple of years, we've had to pull all types of hairs and strings to just get his voice heard. He was being bullied. We reached out to the principal, the administration, the superintendent. We had to hire attorneys. So I know several other parents who also have disabled children that are in District 124 and their voices are not being heard, they're being overlooked. So that was one of the reasons why. I said, well, you know what? If I can't fix it on our side, let me get on the inside and see what I can do to change the rules or change the way that they approach parents with disabled children. 

Sheppard wants closer ties between parents and administrators.

"I think there should be more relations between the parents and the school board and administration there so we can feel more of a part of what's going on. And my third thing is trying to bring the board back to the level of understanding that they represent and work for the parents.” 

Sheppard is also prioritizing transparency, claiming that there's none in District 124, "when it comes to letting the parents know what they're doing before it's done." He said that "there should be more relations between the parents and the school board and administration there so we can feel more of a part of what's going on.” 

“My third thing is trying to bring the board back to the level of understanding that they represent and work for the parents," Sheppard said. "If you go to a school board meeting, there's a lot of language – that they use acronyms – and it's like they overtop the parents. There's no connection. Yes, they're having a meeting, but there's no connection. And that's how it was throughout the school year sometimes. I'm not saying they are a bad board. I have a lot of respect for Evergreen Park Schools. My children came through Evergreen Park Schools. So it's not that it's bad. I just believe it could be better than what it is right now.” 

Sheppard said his attempts to get assistance for his son spurred him to run. When a situation arises where a child is bullying or a group of children is bullying another, he said "the board has a responsibility to make sure that all children have a safe environment to receive their education, and it needs to be addressed swiftly and firmly in the door. So, therefore, it does not plant seed and grow.”

“To make a long story short, when I asked for assistance from the local mayor that we have right now, our current mayor and our current state rep – I know her personally,” he said. “I asked her to help me with my son when he was being bullied when I had already got attorneys who were coming to the point that we were going to reach out to the news. At that point, she basically told me there was nothing she could do for me. I felt like if you're saying that about my child and I'm your friend then what is a representation of the rest of the children in a district and that was the turning point. There's a lot of bullying, to my understanding, that's going on in the junior high school."

Sheppard said parents have told him blame has been shifted to the bullying victim.

"And I've heard from numerous parents about how their children are being bullied and somehow they turn away from the actual individuals [who are] bullying their children to their children actually being the problem. They're trying to either ship their children off to someplace else or the school board is trying to suggest that these kids go to school from some other place. There need to be stricter rules and it needs to be for everyone. Everyone needs to be treated fairly in a system."  

Although the race is no longer competitive after one of the candidates dropped out, Sheppard said he is still actively campaigning and meeting parents across the district. “What I would like to say to the voters is come out, exercise your right to vote, participate in your board meetings and your local meetings, your council and community meetings and your communities. One thing that I would like to see is we build a team model in our community where the voters – which are the parents and the board members and the teachers – can all be on one team because it takes a village to raise a child.”

Sheppard has 20 years in law enforcement. He has five children. "And four of them went through Evergreen Park system, including my one son is still there. So I have a perspective from the outside coming in. I am currently a police chief of a suburban department. So I have manager skills. I've rehabbed houses in my past. I've done a lot of things. I've been a supervisor for the last 15 years of my life. So I have that that I can bring to the board to say, 'Hey, look, you're doing it this year, but let's do it better or let's do it great over here.' So that is some of the basic reasons why I got in and then there's other little things about trying to stabilize our property tax in the area and to ensure that our children are safe.” 

Sheppard shared a photo of his son on his Facebook page and shared his reason for running for school board. “A few parents have asked why I decided to run…it’s partially for this little guy. This is my son, David Jr., he’s nine years old, and nonverbal autistic. He’s a student attending Northwest that was bullied by the administration and school district due to his disability. I will not let it happen to another child!!!”

Evergreen Park ESD 124 oversees 1,848 students over five schools. It employs 139 classroom teachers. The district headquarters is located at 2929 W 87th St. in Evergreen Park.

In 2022 Sheppard ran for the 36th House District.  “If I am treated that way and I’m a local police chief, I cannot imagine the families out there who suffer, because they’re shy or don’t know their rights for their disabled children," Sheppard said, South Cook News reported. "And the district doesn’t tell them what’s really going on with their child.”