Plainfield School Board Forum: Candidates Speak Up on Funding, School Safety

Editor’s note: A video of the entire one-hour event will is posted on CAPE's page on the District 202 website. 

This month, five candidates are vying for four spots on the District 202 Board of Education. On Monday night, they participated in a forum to share their views on everything from education funding to school safety, charter schools and the state’s new Common Core Standards.

Sign up for the Plainfield Patch newsletter

Like Plainfield Patch on Facebook andfollow us on Twitter.

The following candidates are seeking election:

• William Dargan
• William Slabich Jr.
• Michelle Smith (incumbent)
• P. Anne Walchshauser
• Rod Westfall (incumbent)

Monday night’s event was hosted by District 202’s committee for the Coordination of Administration and Parents Groups for Educational Efficiency (CAPE) at the district administration center.

Questions were submitted in advance and read by veteran moderator Bob Stone. Although residents were not permitted to ask questions during the event, voters had the chance to informally meet with candidates following the forum.

Here are some of the questions posed by Stone, and the candidates’ responses to them: 

What do you see as the most important issue facing our school board, and how do you plan to address it?

• Slabich - The 12-year resident of Plainfield said the economy is still the biggest challenge facing District 202: “We have to figure out a way to get the most out of the money that we have to deal with,” he said, adding the district is unlikely to see any additional state or federal funding, or a successful referendum, in the near future.
• Smith – Mom of four Smith, who is seeking re-election to the board, agreed that the finances are a huge issue: “That’s been our No. 1 problem since I’ve been on the board — our fiscal issues with the state,” she said. “We’ve tried to cut everything we can without cutting programs for the kids.”
• Dargan - Dargan, who ran unsuccessfully for the board in 2011, said he’s been married 29 years and sent three kids through District 202 schools, was succinct in his response: “It’s the budget, plain and simple,” he said, adding his goal if elected will be to help the district provide the best education possible despite decreased revenues — and the potential for even lower General State Aid next year.
• Walchshauser - Challenger Walchshauser, who said she's had a lifelong passion for children, praised the current board for their efforts to cut costs: “They’ve had some tough decisions to make,” she said. Walchshauser added she has concerns with the implementation of Common Core Standards. “As a board, I want to keep a very close eye on it. The transition needs to be careful,” she said.
• Westfall – A 12-year veteran of the board of education, Westfall focused on state funding woes and upcoming cuts to General State Aid and transportation funding. He also touched on state pension reform proposals: “It’s a joke, it’s not reform. They’re going to pass on pension reform to our taxpayers,” he said. “”I think people need to hold accountable the state leadership that keeps hold of the purse strings and passes on the mess for us to clean up."

Would you support armed guards in schools or support the storing of weapons in a police-maintained safe?

• Walchshauser – “Because every circumstance and every school is different, it’s hard to answer a question like that,” she said, adding she would have to talk with the police chief and school security before making a decision. Walchshauser also said the district should enforce strict policies on who can enter school buildings.
• Westfall – Westfall noted that the district already has safety measures in place. “You get buzzed in, you show your ID, they run a check on you,” he said. “We’re ahead of the game a little bit there.” Westfall said he did see room to improve equipment including surveillance cameras, but, referring to his experience at a Chicago high school where students were greeted at the door with metal detectors, noted, “I will not support a police state in our buildings.”
• Slabich – “It’s one thing to have a gun in school and it’s another to be able to pull the trigger,” Slabich said, added he would like to look into other security measures, such as working with the police department to have random checks, or walk-throughs, at District 202 buildings.
• Smith: Smith noted that Plainfield high schools already have an armed school resource officer on campus, adding that officers do have additional weapons in the trucks of their cars. In a school shooter situation, “Our police officer would have to run outside and go to the trunk, leaving our kids in harm’s way,” she said. “I don’t necessarily believe in armed guards,” Smith added, but said she did not have a problem with school officers being able to keep a weapon in a locked safe in a room that only the officer can access.
• Dargan – “School safety needs to be the top priority … We’ve also got to make sure we’re securing buildings so people can’t get in,” he said. Dargan added: “I don’t support putting any additional guns within schools.”

What are your thoughts on charter schools and the attempt to start one within District 202?

• Dargan – “I guess there’s a lot of questions and concerns,” he said. “I’m not sure we that what we saw [from charter school company K12] is the direction we need to go at this point … As it was presented I’m not necessarily in favor of that forum.”
• Walchshauser – Walchshauser said K12’s presentation on the charter school proposal left her with a lot of questions, adding the fact that the virtual school would divert state funding from District 202 is a “big concern.”
• Westfall – “Quite frankly, it was a waste of time and really pathetic,” Westfall said of K12’s presentation, adding the virtual school has no means of verifying that the person taking the online classes and completing coursework is the student who is enrolled in the program.
• Slabich – “The only place I could see this working is maybe in a deprived area or gang area” where gifted students may not have the chance to excel due to safety issues, he said, adding he doesn’t like the fact that the program would be online. “Half of kids have their nose in some sort of iPhone, iPad ... I don’t see that really working.”
• Smith – “I believe in charter schools,” said Smith, noting that she has friends in Arizona who have seen their children succeed in charter schools. “The company that came here and presented to us, I don’t believe in at all,” she added, noting that K12 is a for-profit company. “Charter schools are supposed to be non-profit.”

Related:

• Critics Sound Off on Plainfield Charter School Proposal
• Charter School Controversy: K12 Disputes Reports of Grade Tampering
• No Gun Safes in Plainfield Schools: Police Withdraw Rifle Request
• Mom’s Petition Opposes Rifles in Plainfield Schools

Get informed before April 9 - Election Central Plainfield: 2013 Spring Elections