Harrison School District 36 Board
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Since graduating from Illinois State University, I have held various professional positions. I started out of college working in public accounting at a downstate accounting firm as an accountant until moving to the area in 2001. Where I worked for a local construction company in their accounting department. In 2006, I switched careers to construction management with the same company and hold that position still today. From these years of professional experience I have gained knowledge and life experiences of how successful companies operate and how they constantly plan for the challenges of the future.
My first and main priority is to make sure students of Harrison are well prepared and ready to enter high school. While focusing on my main priority I feel it is important that the students are exposed to the technologies of the future and have curriculum that increases the district\\\'s academic scores. Finally, even though it is important for the students to have a diverse education it is equally important that the district is financially sound. It is crucial that the district makes sure that tax revenue is spent wisely especially with government school funding uncertainty.
No, because home values within the past year have stabilized and in some areas home values have started increasing. As real estate values increase the community’s real estate taxes will naturally increase without increasing the rate. It would always be my main goal to balance the levy rate with expected educational costs of the district. However, with the constant law changes and the state of affairs in Illinois there is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty. The district must always be financially prepared for the future and that Harrison is not put into the dilemma of which school classes or activities to cut.
I do not have any specific decision that I disagree with. As a community and as the new board is created in April we cannot dwell on the past we need to concentrate on the future for that is all we can change.
They have created a school environment that has increased overall test results while maintaining a financially viable district.
When elected I will bring a mind set to the board that is balanced with needs of our students and the financial responsibility that the district has to the community.
For eleven years I was a stay at home mom raising four children. During this time our family had to learn to be very conscious of our financing in order for me to be at home. As my children got older I became involved in their school by volunteering on the PTO and in the classroom. I started out by helping at events, and eventually became a chairperson for some of our fundraisers. Four years ago I was voted in as PTO treasurer and feel I have had the pleasure of working with some amazing people. Working with others is not always an easy task, you have many different opinion but we always talked things out and worked together to come to a common goal.
Some priorities that I would have if elected are to make sure we are being fiscally responsible with the money we have, supplying our staff with tools they need to help each child reach their full learning potential, and keep a safe and healthy learning environment for our staff and students. I would like to see continued growth of communication between our community, staff and school board.
At this time I cannot say I would or wouldn’t be in favor of a tax levy freeze until the housing market rebounds. Many factors affect whether an increase is need or not. If and when the housing market starts to rebound, should not be the only thing we look at when we are deciding whether or not to ask for an increase in the levy. The percent of the levy is what decides what you pay in taxes based on the value of your home. The board needs to make sure they are being responsible with the money they have and only be asking for increases if they can show just cause. We cannot just ask for more money without communicating with the community as to why this would be needed.
The school board asked the community for a tax levy increase that was over 4%. I feel this was a lot to ask of the community in a struggling economy. We also need to make sure this information is being published in our local papers like the Northwest Herald.
The school board biggest accomplishment was offering a Response to Public Comment at their regular school board meetings. This shows the community they are listening and spending time on their concerns and ideas. Working together we can accomplish great things.
Why vote for me? I have been in the community for 27 years and love our small community. I bring with me many experiences working with others to come to well rounded decisions. When in the decision process, I value being fair and honest to all those involved. I feel I have a good understanding of finances. Having had two kids graduate from the school and two still attending, I care about what goes on in the school and in our community. I would do my very best to work with the community and other board members to reach goals set before us.
I bring over fourteen years experience in management with a mix of the retail market and serving active duty in the United States Marine Corps. In both venues I worked with diverse groups of individuals to problem solve and compromise during decision making looking at all sides of a problem or opportunity before making any decisions. More importantly than any business experience however is that I value the opinions and ideas of the community I live in and will consider and respect them in every aspect of the decision making process that affects them either as parents, staff members and/or tax payers.
I believe that just because a taxing authority has the rite to request additional tax dollars, that does not always mean it is the right thing to do in their given community. With things as dire as they are at this time, families being forced out of homes and into foreclosure, continuing to burden this community with increased taxes is unsustainable. District 36 has very little commerce and can’t afford to lose the few we have by taxing them out. As we have had to do in our homes, it is time to look within and find where cut backs can be made that will have the least impact on education and start making them. In this economy, hard decisions have had to be made in our homes since we can’t wave a magic wand to simply raise taxes on our occupants against their will to buy whatever we want. Time to start making these decisions at the school as we can not sustain the current spending.
Those elected to fill these positions must work to be more open with the community. The secretive nature in which it appears things are done at times does not foster a positive relationship with the community. Appearance is everything. Open and most importantly honest communication is key to ensuring your community understands what and why the Board makes the decisions it makes. Forcing FOIA requests instead of answering a parents question is a waste of tax dollars.
I am not in favor of the continuous increases the District has levied against the tax payers. I can not guarantee I would support a complete freeze simply based on housing prices because there are many other factors that make a District sustainable. I am 100% interested in looking at all other options for reducing current taxing and when at all possible, eliminating future increases.
I do not agree with the manner in which the current BOE appears to hide notification of levies by posting them in a local paper viewed by few in the commmunity versus the paper that covers all other events that happen in the District. Though they are fulfilling their “legal” obligation of notification, they are not fulfilling their moral obligation to truly inform their constituents. The Board owes it to the community to advertise in the paper they actually read if they are indeed looking for open and honest communication with the public. I believe in being open with the people that pay the bills and not trying to hide taxing information from them.
Lifelong members of Wonder Lake are being taxed out. After investing the majority of their lives into a community, the last thing people should be doing is facing decisions of leaving their homes for the inability to continue paying the taxes forced upon them and watching their taxes increase year after year.
Spending is my biggest issue. What has occured over the last few years since I have become involved in these meetings and informed as a member of this community is unacceptable. While there are always things that do need to be upgraded and maintained, the spending on unnecessary furniture, technology and landscaping over the last few years, paid for by tax payers while our community struggles to pay their own bills, has been excessive and unfair. More than that I take issue with the BOE “hiding” any taxing information and open bids in a newspaper few in their community read claiming they do it to save money and be fiscally responsible. Being fiscally responsible doesn’t mean asking for taxes simply because you can and spending money simply because it is there. I think the members of this community are worth the extra dollars spent to actually keep them informed as to what the BOE and School District is doing and they are paying for. If we are really looking for open and honest communication with the tax payers, we shouldn’t be “hiding” this information.
I appreciate that the Board added “response to public comments” at regular meetings that address comments made at prior meetings by members of the community. While I don’t always agree with responses or the lawyer talk that we sometimes receive, it is a great improvement from speaking at meetings and never hearing any response at all. The community needs to be a part of the solution.
I believe that any position in government should have term limits in order for fresh perspectives to be constantly introduced. You need new ideas to keep creative problem solving solutions flowing through the challenges that face todays School Districts and communities. Board Members need to be able to look at any situation brought to them from three different perspectives. 1) What is best for the staff? 2) What is best for the students? 3) What is best for the community (tax payers) who are paying the bills? If you can’t look at all three when problem solving, you are doing an injustice to the process. This does not mean you can always please all three, but you have to give the same consideration to all while coming up with ideas and solutions. We all need to learn how to work together and respect one another.
I have been on the Board of Education in District 36 for approximately five years and I feel I have gained quite a lot of experiences in various areas. I have been on the teachers’ contract negotiating team, facilities committee, curriculum committee and a part of the strategic planning process. I was also part of the Superintendent search committee before I was a board member. As a school board member I have been to professional development seminars in the areas of school finance and curriculum. I am also active in the community by serving on the Wonder Lake boys’ baseball board and the Cub Scouts.
My first priority would be in the area of finance. I have made it a goal since I have been on the board to promote a fiscally sound budget, while still ensuring the children receive a quality education. This has never been more important than now as schools continue to receive less and less aid from the state and federal levels. As the number of educational mandates (that are not funded) continues to climb, it is extremely important to find ways to think outside of the box in the terms of finance.
My second priority would be in the area of curriculum. As I stated earlier, I feel a quality education is extremely important. I feel every child should be prepared for college upon graduating high school. The State of Illinois has adopted the Common Core State Standards which guide learning from kindergarten through graduation of high school. I want to help ensure that District 36 follows this path to help prepare the students for high school.
In this last tax levy vote I voted for the levy increase. I do understand that many people’s lives have been affected by the down economy, but I also feel I owe it to the children in the school to continue the level of education they have received. The state and federal aid has decreased the past few years and in addition to the increase in costs to operate a school including utilities, transportation, personnel costs and curriculum it forces more funding from the local tax payers. While I am not in favor of continually asking the tax payers for additional dollars, this is the funding system that has been created by the state.
I feel that the decisions made by the board are to be in the best interest of the children. While some of the decisions might not be popular with the community members, we do discuss them both in open and closed sessions and come to a consensus as a board as to what is best for the students. While it is nearly impossible to agree with every decision made by the board, it is imperative to stand behind and support all decisions made.
One area that needed to be addressed was the condition of the facility. There were many areas that were outdated and needed to be brought up to code. There were some areas that were a life safety concern as well. We used this project to also improve some other areas of the building. The overall efficiency of the building has been improved. With the previous technology upgrades and the building updates, it is our hope that the community will want to use the school for non-school related activities as well.
I feel that my track record shows that I am committed to making Wonder Lake a community of excellence in every aspect I can. My focus however tends to be with the youth of the community in regards to the school, baseball league and Cub Scouts organization. I know the parents of the students in District 36 as well as the other community members want the same thing that I do, for the children to succeed in life and to reach their highest potential possible.
