Eden Prairie students to vet school board candidates at Oct. 24 student-led forum

Eden Prairie School Board candidates will be asked to respond to questions and elaborate on previously stated positions at an upcoming student-led forum.

Students and community members are invited to attend this free public event on Thursday, Oct. 24, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) auditorium. So far, most of the candidates have reportedly committed to attending.

The event was initiated by Zahara Umar, an Eden Prairie High School senior, who said she wanted to create an opportunity for students and families to engage directly with school board candidates about issues that concern them specifically. Umar is organizing the event with the help of fellow senior Vandana Ramanathan and teacher advisor Brian Sibley.

Umar said she watched the League of Women Voters (LWV) school board candidate forum, which was held at Eden Prairie City Hall on Sept. 5. However, she said she felt the format’s short answer times meant that many answers were surface-level and vague, leaving her with further questions.

“I feel like it’s a good time to have a follow up – let’s deep dive into that a little more in here,” she said.

Umar said she is hoping that on Oct. 24, candidates will be open to discussing several issues that concern students specifically.

One such topic is equity in the school calendar, particularly regarding the lack of recognition for major religious holidays of non-Christian faiths. “I think that a big thing for Muslim students specifically is having equity in the days that we’re given off,” she said, noting that this issue was not addressed at the LWV forum.

The disconnect in how adults versus students regard technology use is another issue Umar said she’d like to see discussed. “The use of electronics in school, having iPads or laptops, that’s something students care about, and it’s something we value,” she said.

Umar noted that some parents and school board candidates have expressed a desire for students to use their devices less. However, she said, “I think that that’s something that students have a different perspective on, because we’re in the classrooms learning how to use them, and it’s important to our careers in the future.”

Safety is another key, multifaceted issue, she said, including concerns over personal safety in the building, the security of the building itself, and safety while using devices.

Students and community members are invited to submit questions ahead of time via a Google form and will also be able to do so during the event. Umar said certain questions will be asked of all candidates, while others may be directed at specific candidates based on their prior responses or views.

She added that she hopes the candidates and attendees will be able to stay to talk with each other after the event ends.

While RSVPs are not required, Umar said they are welcomed so organizers know how many people to expect.

Encouraging youth civic engagement: ‘It’s a healthy way to express your frustration’

Umar said that while this is her first time organizing an election-related event, she’s grown increasingly interested in politics over the past few years.

In 2022, she attended the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party State Convention in Rochester with her mother, former school board member Francesca Pagan-Umar. Last year, Umar decided to become a DFL member.

She said these experiences have taught her about the relationship between demographics and civic engagement. “I’ve learned that there are a lot of gaps in who is active in politics, especially local politics,” she said. “And I think that disadvantaged groups of people tend to be less involved in politics.”

Umar said she believes getting people civically engaged while still young and in school will help change this and foster lifelong civic engagement. That’s where the idea for the forum came into play, she said, especially with many students turning 18 and preparing to vote for the first time.

She said she hopes the event will also help students understand how the district is managed, adding, “I think that there’s a lot of people who are upset about some of the way school is run, and they don’t realize that a lot of it is done by the school board.”

Umar said the forum will be a good opportunity for her fellow students to make their voices heard and discuss their concerns.

“It’s a healthy way to express your frustration and to share what you’re upset about in a productive way, because the school board can change things,” she said.