Devin Bright: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: Fox River GroveWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Fox River Grove Elementary D3Age: 43Family: Married for 15 years to wife Laura. Three children, all currently in district.Occupation: I am an Electrical Engineer by training. I am currently employed as an engineer by Synopsys Inc ( www.synopsys.com ) of Mountain View CA. Synopsys provides electronic design automation software and related services for semiconductor design companies.Education: BSEE, The University of Iowa (May 1991)MSEE, The University of Iowa (May 1993)Various continuing education.Civic involvement: Coach Fox River Grove Recreation CouncilPADs shift worker Saints Peter and PaulAssist with numerous activities that my children are involved in.Elected offices held: In September 2009 I was selected to fill a vacant seat on the District 3 school board. I continued to hold the seat to date.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: Candidate did not respond.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 As a member of the board I hope to help District 3 continue to provide a high quality education to the children in our community in a fiscally responsible manner.Key Issue 2 I seek to be approachable by all members of the community regarding items related to District 3.Key Issue 3 Change is inevitable and can come from numerous places. Some likely sources include mandated educational requirements, funding fluctuations, emerging technologies, needs of the community, etc. I look forward to working with all parties as we embrace the inevitabilities and opportunities of change. Questions Answers How satisfied are you that your district is preparing students for the next stage in their lives, whether it be from elementary into high school or high school into college or full-time employment? What changes, if any, do you think need to be made?All the data available to me indicates that District 3 is doing a fine job educating the children of our community. This reflects positively on our communities#146; commitment to education, our educators, and our administrators. Hence I see little need for major change, but rather minor tuning and tweaking.What budget issues will the district have to confront? What measures do you support to address them? If cuts are needed, be specific about programs and expenses that should be reduced or eliminated. Do you support any tax increases for local schools?Timely receipt of state categorical funding and diminishing sources of other revenue have brought the district#146;s budget under a high degree of scrutiny resulting in proactive steps to maintain our financial well being. Recent and significant steps include such items as: a reduction in expenses, amicable labor agreement, choosing not to rehire to fill vacated position, etc. Decreasing EAVs resulting from the depressed housing market are now impacting our local funding source. It would be my desire to prudently leverage our reserves as we continue to make adjustments as we adapt to the present financial situation. A tax increase does not seem necessary or attractive at this point in time.Is experience as a teacher or support from a union valuable because it suggests educational insights or detrimental because it creates pro-teacher bias? Please clarify whether you have such experience or would accept union support.The question is unclear to me.As contract talks come up with various employee groups, what posture should the board take? Do you believe the district should ask for concessions, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?I think it best to approach negotiations looking for a win win. Building an environment of trust and understanding are key to facilitate this. With this as the backdrop, hopefully solutions that are suitable to all parties can be achieved while not loosing focus on the children.If your district had a superintendent or other administrator nearing retirement, would you support a substantial increase in his or her pay to help boost pension benefits? Why or why not?A district incurs penalties when substantial increases in pay are awarded to boost pension benefits. When a year over year increase exceeds a threshold, a penalty is incurred. This would not seem like a prudent use of the district#146;s financial resources, and as such it would not seem like something I likely support.