South Cook News

Patti Thanos, Ryan Valan, and Iwona Piwowarczyk have made it clear they skipped a debate hosted by the Palos Orland League of Women Voters due to the political views espoused by the host organization. 

The three challengers are running for positions on the Orland School District 135 school board. Prior to the event, the trio said they learned one of its organizers, Chris Kasmer had come out in support of their opponents.

“In early February, we learned that Mr. Kasmer had posted support for the other candidates on Facebook and that others should do,” the District 135 United slate said in a press release. 

Thanos, Valan, and Piwowarczyk said after researching the organization they decided to drop out of a candidate forum. 

“We researched the Palos Orland League of Women Voters, and after viewing their webpage as well as the IL LWV webpage their political views are clearly not impartial,” the District 135 United candidates said. “Some include opposing term limits, eliminating cash bail, and sanctuary states. They are certainly entitled to their views; however, they do not match our views, and no fair-minded, reasonable person would call them or Mr. Kasmer of the PFE ‘neutral.’" 

The trio also "discovered that Mr. Kasmer filed a complaint in an attempt to eliminate voters’ choice in 2019 and remove Trustees Healy, Katsenes, and Milani from the ballot.” 

“He then ran for Trustee himself and ran several cartoons attacking Mayor Pekau, which, as recently as last week, he reposted," the trio stated. "After much deliberation, we believe this forum would be heavily biased and will not provide voters with complete and accurate information about all candidates. Therefore we will not be attending. However, we believe in open and fair discussions about the issues facing our schools and invite parents and voters to meet us in person so you can ask us your questions. Together, we can discuss how to make District 135 a destination district again! We are hosting three separate meet-and-greet events.”

The candidates are making themselves available to potential voters through a series of meet and greets. The group has scheduled the dates below to meet in person with voters to discuss their candidacies. On Thursday, March 16 they will be at Girl in the Park at 11265 W. 159th St. in Orland Park. On Wednesday, March 22 they’ll meet at Panera Bread located at 15051 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park. On Wednesday, March 29 they’ll be at Coaches Corner located at 8116 W. 143rd St. in Orland Park.

The group is running under a three-pillar platform including “Education First,” “Transparency,” and “Community.”  

“Focus on providing a quality education that prepares students for the future," the group’s website reads. "We represent children, parents and families to ensure the proposed curriculum continues to advance academic growth and personal success.”  

The group also welcomes and encourages parents to "participate in school activities, engage in student success planning and be a voice for policy improvements. We believe in open communication between parents, teachers, staff and local residents.” 

Thanos, Valan, and Piwowarczyk will also work on empowering communities "with a bottom-up approach to policy improvements." They believe in creating a partnership with the community "to improve schools, resulting in lower taxes and rising property values." 

Orland School District 135 has 5,210 students over 10 schools. The district headquarters is located at 15100 S 94th Ave. in Orland Park. The school system employs around 396 teachers. The student-to-teacher ratio is 13 to 1.