Dist. 200 hopefuls clear about transparency

A Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 incumbent who sat on the board while it maintained a self-imposed gag order on the reasons behind the departure of a former superintendent said Tuesday that “improving communications with the community” should be one of the district’s main priorities.

John Bomher, who is seeking a third term of office in the April 5 election, said during a candidates forum that the school district has been working to be more transparent.

“It’s always very important that we continue to strengthen interactions,” said Bomher, who noted that the school district had recently upgraded its website and now displays its superintendent’s contract online.

“At town hall meetings last year to talk about budget cuts, we heard and responded to a lot of what we heard.”

The forum, hosted by the parent-teacher association of Wheaton Warrenville South High School, covered topics that ranged from the school district’s budget to the sale of the old Hubble Middle School site. But on a question that asked the candidates what they would like to see the board accomplish within the next year, Bomher said transparency should be at the forefront.

Just months after former Superintendent Richard Drury received a contract extension from the school board, which included Bomher and fellow incumbent running for re-election Rosemary Swanson, he skipped a meeting Sept. 23, 2009. At first, officials did not say anything about his whereabouts except to say that Drury was “on vacation.”

A statement released in October 2009 said he and the board disagreed on the direction of the school district and the resignation agreement prohibited further discussion about the decision with anybody, including “the public and the media.”

After the forum, Bomher said his comments did not contradict the board’s actions and that the district has since moved on. Also, he said, the district continues to improve and is headed in the right direction since the decision to let Drury go was made.

“To a large measure, that was a personnel matter,” Bomher said. “At the time, the organization decided it needs to go in a different direction. It’s important to look at what we have done since. Going forward ... we will have to be as transparent and open as possible.”

Incumbent Rosemary Swanson said she hoped that there was not a loss of trust because of the Drury incident and a previous incident with former superintendent Gary Catalani’s contract.

“I deeply regret if there has been any feelings that we broke the trust with the community,” she said. “I have always been keenly aware of my responsibility to the community. I have always based my decisions on what is best for the school district, taxpayers and students.”

Challenger Harold Lonks also addressed transparency in his answer to the same question about what he would like to see in the next year, saying the school district should limit its closed sessions moving forward. Jim Vroman said he heard about the superintendent issues while he sought signatures for his nominating petitions.

“Many people expressed dissatisfaction with the events over the last several years with superintendents,” he said. “I’m in no way challenging the good faith and sincerity of the board. But it has to be in your mind how important it is to build trust with the community. That way, You can go to the community with the hard decisions.”

One challenger in the race said the incidents have broken the trust between the school board and the public.

“The most important thing is we are public servants,” said Jim Gambaiani, who added school board members should consider that they are running a $140 million business.

“Once we become board members, we must be custodians for those who put us in there. We need open communication and full disclosure about everything and anything.”

During the forum, Gambaiani said the school board should focus on rebuilding trust with the public in the next year.

“Most of the things that we need to accomplish will be difficult unless we start behaving and gaining the trust and respect of District 200 families,” he said. “That’s the first thing we must do so we can move forward with new inititatives and new ideas.”

Challenger Mike Radencich said he wanted to see all-day kindergarten completed in the first year.