South Cook News

Candidate for Evergreen Park ESD 124 school board David Sheppard says that he will focus on addressing school bullying if elected.

David Sheppard was born in the city of Chicago, Illinois and served in the United States Navy. His professional background includes serving as Chief of Police. He ran for the Illinois House of Representatives to represent District 36 but lost to Kelly Burke, according to Ballotpedia.

Sheppard is passionate about ending school bullying and says that will be a primary focus of his if elected to the school board.  

"I am learning there’s a large amount of “Bullying” happening in Dist 124 schools. This is unacceptable and will stop once I’m elected!" Sheppard wrote in a Jan. 30 Facebook post.

Sheppard is the father of an autistic child and says that enrolling him has been very difficult. He says that difficulty is what motivated him to run for a seat on the school board. 

"The way the board is set up I felt my child was being bullied into situations he could not handle. It's led to us having to hire an attorney to take a stand for him, Sheppard told South Cook News. "All types of things were going on and that put me on a mission, thinking if you can't fix things on the outside maybe you can on the inside. The district has good schools, but there needs to be more transparency. Right now, it's more of a dictatorship instead of communicating with the parents. Transparency is lacking."

Sheppard believes that his previous experience as a Chief of Police brings something unique to the table. 

"With my law enforcement background, I'm all about making sure our kids are protected. Also, I've managed crews, written policies and balanced budgets. I feel management is management and if you can manage people correctly and effectively you can give that to the workers," Sheppard said. 

David has three children, including a nine-year-old currently in the district and two sons and a daughter that previously attended school there. 

"I firmly believe our kids need to be allowed to be kids. All a child really wants is to go to school, have fun and get an education," Sheppard said. "We need to get back to the basics by creating an atmosphere that's best for them and prepares them for the future." 

“Our District 124 teachers are the best. I pledge to always work in good faith to support and advance their careers,” Sheppard wrote in a Feb. 10 Facebook post. 

Evergreen Park ESD 124 currently serves just under 2,000 students in grades PK-8 throughout five schools. It employs 139 classroom teachers with a ratio of 13 students per teacher. The district headquarters is located at 2929 W 87th St. in Evergreen Park, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.