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Schools

Dist. 202 Candidates Say Balance Between Spending, Curriculum Needed

Seven people seeking to fill three school board seats discussed issues at Tuesday night forum.

Advancing curriculum and programming and retaining teachers while dealing with decreasing funding are just a few of the priorities of the candidates for the board.

The seven candidates vying for three four-year terms participated Tuesday in a moderated forum at Plainfield Central High School, offering their beliefs about the progress and problems in District 202.

Incumbents Roger Bonuchi and David Obrzut are seeking re-election. They will be joined on the April 5 ballot with William Dargan Jr., Kevin Kirberg, Greg Nichols, Anthony Scala and Tommie Van.

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Current board Present Stuart Bledsoe is not running for another term.

The school district has cut about $33 million in expenses in the last two years, but rising costs coupled with a weak economy and housing market and decreased state funding all contribute to the school’s operating fund deficit.

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The district faces a $6.7 million deficit at the end of this school year and may vote to cut more than 100 jobs this month. Still, the deficit is likely to continue in the coming years.

Balancing the budget is a top priority for many candidates, who agree that it should not take away from the student experience.

Bonuchi said that while the school district made$33 million in cuts, standardized test scores continued to rise and the students made adequate yearly progress as measured by the No Child Left Behind Act. He said one of the hardest decisions he has had to make was to cut the 5th grade band program, though some of the best music programs in the country do not offer band at the elementary school level.

Dargan said cuts need to be “invisible” to the students and when funds become available, programs that are being eliminated now should be reconsidered.

“Nothing hurts more than taking programs away that are working,” Dargan said.

Kirberg said the board needs to pursue additional funding opportunities while serving each student’s unique needs.

Obtaining financial security ensures that classes students want will be available and not be cut, which will maximize the learning experience, Nichols said. As the fourth-largest school district in Illinois, the district needs to participate more in statewide government, he said.

Most of the candidates do not believe that employees’ pay should be frozen as the district deals with the budget crisis. Candidates were asked if they thought it would be sensible to freeze salaries until the debt was paid and the budgets are balanced.

Candidate Nichols said he “absolutely” believed salaries should be frozen similar to a business model, which would do similar things to survive.

Scala said he may consider freezing salaries for the next year.

However, others said that freezing salaries would discourage new teachers from entering the district, and current teachers would leave.

“The state knows the mess we are in,” Obrzut said. “The state created the mess we are in. … (It) is an invitation to a mass exodus if we froze salaries.”

“They don’t freeze your bills,” Van said. “They will continue to rise.”

Both Bonuchi and Dargan said they feel the staff recognizes the fiscal restraints and will be realistic to a fair and equitable labor agreement in the future.

Candidates said that they do agree with Supt. John Harper’s budget recommendations to eliminate the current deficit in which he proposed cutting about 112 jobs, restructuring the administration department, eliminating some programs, such as Reading Recovery, and changing the bus schedule and school start times to save money.

The school board is expected to approve his recommendations with additional changes on Feb. 28.

Incumbents said they did not want to comment too much on the budget cuts because they are still ongoing, while other candidates said they respect Harper’s recommendations based on the knowledge they have.

It’s easy to criticize when being an “armchair quarterback” but Harper and his team are putting together the best possible recommendations to eliminate the budget deficit, Scala said.

One of the top priorities for many candidates is advancing the curriculum forward to help better educate students and prepare them for college and beyond.

While the board has continued to make cuts, 84 percent of students are meeting and exceeding state standards, Obrzut said. The district needs to ensure the remaining students catch up while continuing to make the curriculum more rigorous, he said. He said he would like to offer foreign language at the elementary school level and increase language offerings so children can compete in a global society.

“We are a global school district,” he said.

Obrzut said he would also like to see the district have a self-contained career and technical education center for students looking for a trade, such as fire science, automotive or child care.

Bonuchi agreed that foreign language should be expanded to include Chinese and computer science should also be expanded. More innovative programs, such as Catalyst, which is being restructured because of the deficit, should be encouraged, he said.

Both Kirberg and Nichols said the district needs to increase its rigor in high school while placing less emphasis on standardized testing which is becoming less of a benchmark when applying for some colleges.

Van said it is important for him to study the current policies, programs and curriculum instead of trying to implement alterations immediately so that the change is for the better.

Candidates for the school board said that one of the greatest strengths of the district were its volunteers in the community. Parents, parent-teacher organizations and staff band together to support the students, they said.

“Our people are the best asset we’ve got,” Dargan said.

However, community is also one of the biggest weaknesses of the district, many candidates said, noting that only about two dozen community members attended Tuesday’s forum to learn about the candidates. The audience included Harper and several current board members.

Van said that while the community is very vibrant and diverse, community involvement in the schools is lacking. While the superintendent offers a regular coffee meeting to get to know and discuss issues with parents, the school board needs to get into the communities and reach out to the parent-teacher organizations.

Candidates said the only time a board meeting draws a crowd is when budget cuts are being discussed.

“Participation is a two-way street,” Kirberg said, adding he would have an accessible open-door policy if elected.

Nichols said he feels that more transparency will help people understand the district’s decisions better.

Tuesday’s forum was sponsored by CAPE (the Coordination of Administration and Parents for Educational Efficiency committee).

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