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Hi there! I will be speaking at the dist 186 board meeting on 9/2 and would like to extend the invitation for your staff to attend this meeting. I have enclosed a rough draft of what I will be discussing if you guys are interested in attending.

Good evening Dist 186 school board

My name is Darci Zook and I am here to talk about pressing concerns within the district and their hiring process. Before I do so, I want to give you a bit background information about who I am and why I am speaking here before you today.

I am a deaf individual – obviously, you can see my waving hands – this is how I communicate 95% of the time. The other 5% I use is sim-com which means; spoken English with sign language. As a child, I attended my entire elementary upbringing at Cantrall elementary school and had a numerous turnover of sign language interpreters – thankfully, I had a strong support system and a family who made sure that my education was not hindered. At the age of 10, my family had to made a decision for my future because of all the turnovers and lack of communication within Dist 186 Student Support Services. My mother relocated to Jacksonville so I could attend ISD and I have a brother who is hearing and he attended Jacksonville public schools until high school. My parents decided it was best for him to move back to Athens and my dad raised him. The reasoning for my dad to stay in Athens was because his job would not allow him to relocate and he had to work locally to support the family farm. That was not an easy decision, and I am forever grateful that they compromised and stuck with their vows – for better or for worse. This is a struggle most families with deaf child(ren) face daily because of the shortage of sign language interpreters within the state of Illinois and they face tough decisions towards relocation or fighting battles for their child’s education.

Which brings me to what I am here to discuss among the board today – I want to know WHY district 186 failed to bring the ASL program in the high schools of dist. 186. There were qualified candidates who submitted applications only to be told they had to have a certain license – which was not included in the application and job post. This is a disgrace. After all the hard work the Support service staff have put into making this happened and the publicity that was broadcasted in the spring of making this happen, it has turned into a mockery. If Spanish, German, and etc. languages are offered within the 186 school districts – ASL needs to be offered as well. I have met people through all walks of life – some have lost their hearing through the military due to explosives, sporting accidents, car accidents, etc. And all those folks have mentioned how they wished they had ASL offered in schools to learn because anyone can become deaf at any time. To Dist. 186 – please do better. Be better and thank you for your time.”

https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/education/2025/03/11/springfield-public-schools-adding-american-sign-language/77913349007/