William "JR" Parker for School Board

08/16/2025

Hello to all Maroa-Forsyth parents, teachers, staff, administrators, residents and businesses.

The M-F school board is now starting the first stages of developing a new ~5 year strategic plan for our school district. It is very important that everyone with a vested interest in our district follow along with, and participate in the process.

Everyone’s input is needed so that we can come up with the most effective and efficient plan that will, without any doubt, make our school district the best place to attend and work for in Illinois. I believe that all of the pieces are in place to take our school district to the next level and beyond. Now we need to set our goals and go after them!

There is a strategic plan survey on the district website (mfschools.net) that is now available to complete. I ask you to please go to the district website and take the survey. This is only the first step. In the upcoming months, there will be public meetings and other ways you can continue to help us to develop our strategic plan.

Please make it a point to follow along and participate whenever you can. We on the school board need as much input as we can get from all involved parties across the spectrum so we can develop a plan that benefits everyone.

Together, let’s create a plan that will leave no doubt that the M-F district is not only the best in central Illinois, but one of the best in the entire state! Thank you for your participation!

William “JR”

The Maroa-Forsyth School District provides a high-quality public school experience for students from pre-K through 12th grade. Our mission is to provide opportunities for students to fulfill their educational goals in a safe, challenging, and caring environment.

11/26/2023

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted here. Just a couple of things to touch base on at this time.

First, I want to belatedly thank those of you who voted for me to represent you on the school board. I also want to thank those of you who voted - whether it was for me or not.

Thus far, being on the school board has been a good experience. I feel that I have contributed in a positive manner to the school board and district. The board has been working well together and I am optimistic that this will continue.

As you may know, the school board hired Mr. Adam Ibbotson to be the new M-F Superintendent starting on 07/01/2024. I am very excited about this hire. I firmly believe that Adam will bring high energy and expectations to our schools and that he can take our district to the next level in all areas. I think that the kids will really like Adam and that he will quickly earn the trust and respect of parents, administrators, teachers and staff.

I also want to thank the interim co-superintendents, Leo Johnson and Dr. Jeff Holmes. They have really taken control and have created as smooth and stable of a transition year as is possible while the board sought to hire the new superintendent. They have been very proactive and haven’t acted merely as placeholders.

As of now, the next major item for the school board (and Adam after he starts on 7/1/24) will be to create a new long-term strategic plan for our school district. I am sure that it will be heavy on academics and creating technical classes among other things. I highly suggest that you, as parents, fully participate and make your voices heard when we begin work on the new plan. The board needs input from all areas - particularly from parents.

Lastly, for this post, I strongly encourage all parents, students and staff to attend some of the school board meetings. They are normally held at 6:30 pm in the HS library on the 3rd Monday of every month. See the M-F website for dates and times. The agenda for each meeting will also be posted on the the website a few days prior to the meeting so you can see what will be discussed.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at any time via my school district email: [email protected]

Thank you for your time and my sincerest wishes for a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year for you and your family!

03/28/2023

Welcome to my page. Below, I am going to cover some of my beliefs about education, ideas & goals, and why we parents need a bigger role and louder voice when it comes to the education of our children. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them. I will reply outside of my 7a ~ 5p work hours.

My name is William Parker. Most people know me as JR. I am running for a 4-year seat on the Maroa-Forsyth School Board in the April 4, 2023 election.

Background:
I have lived in Forsyth since 2010 with my wife Sherry, my son Logan (12th grade) and my daughter Olivia (10th grade). Both of my kids are very active in sports, academic teams, band, choir and musicals. I don't know how they juggle it all, but somehow they manage to fit it all in.

I have worked for 23+ years at IDOT as a civil engineer supervising bridge and highway construction projects. I earned a BS in General Engineering with a secondary in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

When we reached the middle of the 2020-2021 school year, I began to believe that my children (and other children) were suffering more mentally, physically and educationally due to the covid mandates and remote learning than due to covid itself. Since the spring of 2021, I felt compelled to attend school board meetings to voice my opposition to the endless covid mandates being forced on my kids and on our school district. Since then I have attended about 80% of the board meetings.

Even though I’ve never run for any kind of elected office before, one of the main reasons I have decided to run now is so that Springfield knows that parents have every right to be involved in decisions affecting their children’s education.

Beliefs about Education:
First, let me say that we need a lot more parents to be involved with things that can / will directly affect what their kids are being taught in school. I was one of those who didn't really follow curriculum mandates or policy decisions. Common Core was something I really disagreed with, but other than a few notes to teachers about specific math problems, I didn't do anything else. I never took note of how autonomy, discretion, and the ability to make our own decisions as a district (and by extension - as parents) were being siphoned away by the politicians.

But now there are all kinds of curricula that the federal and Illinois state governments are pushing to enact, and we as parents need to decide if we are going to allow our schools to take the path towards "social & cultural enlightenment" or whether we are going to continue teaching our kids the basics - the "3R's" core classes (along with computers and science) that they need in order to have the best opportunity to succeed post-graduation.

Right now, as a school district, Maroa-Forsyth is ranked in the top 10% of schools in Illinois in reading, math and language arts. A majority of students in our schools "approach", "meet" or "exceed" in these categories. One of my goals would be to see that these numbers increase so that a sizable majority of our students "meet" or "exceed" in these subjects. But, as it is, the amount of time our teachers have for classroom instruction is very limited. If we are to improve on these metrics, we cannot afford to be losing any more valuable class time to subjects with minimal educational value that will not provide our kids with any tools they need for success in the real world.

If elected to the M-F School Board I will do my best to (in no particular order):
1) Be a strong advocate and a voice for the rights and wishes of parents of this district and not a rubber stamp for what those in Springfield think is best for us.
2) Continue the path of fiscal responsibility and being a good steward of the taxpayer's hard-earned money.
3) Work with fellow board members to provide teachers, administrators and staff with the tools and support they need to educate our kids for success. The school board sets the tone for the rest of the district.
4) Continue to promote civic pride in the accomplishments of our schools, students and programs that make ours a "destination district".
5) Seek to implement classes like wood shop, metal shop, automobile technology, and life skills that will complement our fantastic FFA program. Let more kids learn to work with their hands and help them see if a skilled trade would be an alternative to attending college.
6) Resist the acceptance and implementation of National S*x Education Standards (NSES) and other similar curricula.

Lastly, I believe that PARENTS are the best judges of when & if their kids need to be taught about most of the social / sexual indoctrination being passed off as "education". Many of these topics, in my opinion, have absolutely no place in our schools and are inappropriate for students of all ages.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my page and read my post. And whether or not you decide to vote for me, it is important to get out and vote!