Amy Narot: 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: LisleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Lisle Unit District 202 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 45Family: Married, 2 children ages 14 and 12Occupation: volunteerEducation: Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication, Business Administration minor, University of Illinois, Champaign-UrbanaCivic involvement: Served on Lisle School Board since April 2009 which included: participant as the liaison to the HSO board, committee member of the financial committee, and two-time participant for the board on the contract negotiations team (2010 2013.) Volunteer with the Jr. High Home and School Organization and with the Science Olympiad team. Volunteer at Trinity Lutheran Church in the First Impressions ministry. Leader for the Big Event IV, Trinity's annual dinner, dance auction to raise funds for our youth mission trips. Participant on the Strategic Leadership Team for Trinity's Green Trails location and the Grounds for Hope Caf? and Playhouse.Elected offices held: Lisle District 202 School Board, since April 2009Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Effectively managing the district through a challenging changing time in the world of education. With the advent of the Senate Bill 7 the PERA laws, both of which require significant changes to how we assess our educators, our district must collaborate effectively with our staff to ensure we execute these changes in the best possible way. We must maintain a motivated, and effectively empowered staff while ensuring the requirements of these laws are met, in a way that continues to ensure district stability and ultimately significant student growth. In addition to these laws, we are evolving our curriculum as we focus on thecommon-core.? This change to meetcommon-core? requirements must be managed effectively and must be a priority.Key Issue 2 Fiscal responsibility must always remain a district priority especially as the economics of the state of Illinois could significantly change the district's financial picture. This is particularly relevant in light of the proposed changes with pension reform.Key Issue 3 Student growth must remain a critical target for District 202. Lisle has taken great strides to ensure increased academic rigor for our students. We must continue this trend and ensure student growth. Student growth can only be achieved by addressing both the academic and the social/emotional learning components for our students.Questions Answers What do you think about the shift to the common core standards? How big a role do you think the board of education should play in setting the curriculum for students and what ideas do you have for changes to the current curriculum?The shift to common core standards is a good direction for our curriculum and will improve the ability of our students to be college and career ready. I also believe the Board's role is to establish policy and set standards that the district must maintain. I do not believe the Board should be determining exact curriculum changes, but rather the Board should ensure the district is staffed with administrators and teachers who are experts in their field to determine the most effective changes in our curriculum. I expect our administration to continue to improve the academic rigor and continue our intervention procedures for our students, ensuring all students are growing. Our administration also need to continue the social/emotional learning that is taking place in our district as a safe and effective learning environment is key to the success of our students.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?Lisle is very fortunate to be a K-12 district as this leads to amazing collaboration between our buildings with regard to our student growth. Over the past four years, we have taken significant steps to ensure consistency in our curriculum through the entire K-12 experience which helps ensure our students are ready for that next stage of learning. We need to continue this trend. Regarding the college or career readiness, I believe Lisle needs to continue our constant goal of improving academic rigor, such as our AP and dual-credit class offerings, and to incorporate all necessary interventions to ensure the needs of all students are met.What budget issues will your district have to confront and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax increases?I view the current budget issue as twofold: The first is in the maintenance of our district buildings, and the second is with regard to our teacher and support staff contracts. We need to confront these issues with diligence and an appropriate conservative fiscal approach. Our money is truly our constituents? money and our duty is to be fiscally responsible with those dollars. I support any measures to address budget issues that are decided by the Board so long as the Board has reviewed and assessed each measure to be aligned with the district goals. Because of some excellent financial management, our district remains in a stable fiscal position. I am hopeful our district will not need to go through any cuts at this time. Tax increases are never ideal. At this time, with continued effective fiscal management, I do not foresee a need for any tax increases.As contract talks come up with various school employee groups, do you believe the district should ask for concessions from its employees, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?As in any negotiations in our current economic times, a collaborative agreement must be reached. The pressures on our staff regarding the mandated changes due to our changing laws must be given consideration, while the current economic pressures of our district must also be considered. I am sure the district will approach negotiations with a give and take approach so that we can come to an agreement that will effectively serve all parties.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?While I understand this method has been done in various districts across America, I do not support this approach. The pension program for our educators is in financial disarray. The ways of the past cannot continue. I understand pension reform is a very complicated issue, but our government cannot make poor decisions and expect the pension crisis to be resolved.