3 new candidates face incumbents in Highland Park School Board race

This upcoming election, the Highland Park Board of Education has three open positions on the ballot. Five candidates are running, and three of them are new challengers.

Those three prospects are Yolanda Harrison, Famika Roberts and Cassandra Walker.

There is currently only one school in the Highland Park School District. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade attend Barber Preparatory Academy, which is a charter school. High school students in the city have to commute to other districts.

Harrison’s family has lived in Highland Park since the 1960s. She said she feels like her own kids missed out on getting a proper education in-town, so she’s running for the school board to build a greater environment for teaching the youth.

“I know that Highland Park is bringing more residents in and our community is expanding, and I want to make sure that we as the people, establish a learning facility with the tools that is needed to educate our children,” Harrison told WDET.

Harrison said she seeks to increase the resources that would secure education for kids in the district. She said her main goals as a board member include opening a library and a new high school in Highland Park. The last high school closed in 2015 because of financial problems and low attendance.

Candidate Roberts wants a new high school as well. She argued that having more local schools would make it easier for kids to make friends in their own neighborhood. Roberts stressed the importance of creating bonds with the people that live nearby, saying that she made lifelong friendships growing up that way and wants the same for children like her granddaughter.

“Out here, we have a K-8 and once our babies graduate from the eighth grade, now they have to go and find a place to go to school. And it may not be with their peers, you know, with their friends that they’ve been going to school with since kindergarten,” she said about the current state of schooling for kids in Highland Park.

Roberts is the founder of a nonprofit called Sisters With Helping Hands. The organization does work in the city, like planting community gardens and teaching people healthy lifestyle practices. Roberts said that she hopes to use her background to improve communication between the school board and the neighborhood if she’s elected.

Candidate Walker, like the others, supports reestablishing a high school in Highland Park. Walker said both of her daughters graduated from the old high school and are now pursuing medical careers, which she partially credited the high school for. She said she wants to bring that quality of education back to the city.

“I’m running because I want to see a change and more opportunities for our children,” Walker said. “I believe in education. I’ve seen what education looks like, and I want to have that opportunity for our children, and also to have equality and accountability as it relates to our funds and our schools.”

Walker has her own background in community work, as the interim leader of a welfare advocacy group called Westside Mothers. Walker said that as a school board member, she would focus on managing the district’s finances. She wants to see more spending on transportation, after-school programs, and hiring teachers.

Two incumbent members of the Highland Park Board of Education, Lorne McGee and Mark Ashley Price, will also be on the ballot. They did not respond to WDET’s requests for interviews.

The general election is taking place on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. For the latest election information, visit WDET’s Voter Guide at wdet.org/voterguide.