David Seiffert: 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: PalatineWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Palatine District 15 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 50Family: Beth Seiffert-Wife Grace Seiffert-Daughter-7th Grader Winston Jr. High Luke Seiffert-Son-4th Grader Jane AddamsOccupation: Regional Sales Manager-Hudsonville Ice Cream Co. Holland MichiganEducation: B.S. Degree Business Management Western Illinois UniversityCivic involvement: District 15 School Board District 15 Educational Foundation Board Member Palatine Youth Baseball Board Member Palatine Amateur Football AssociationElected offices held: District 15 School BoardHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 To make sure we continue to operate in a fiscally responsible manner, and continue to insure that we have a consistent group to manage The District.Key Issue 2 Need to look at all the facilities in District 15, we have some older schools, and we need to insure the schools are taken care of as we go forward, keep up with the facilities studies and make necessary repairs and updates.Key Issue 3 To make sure I am educated on the key issues that concern the district and to push our administration to bring us the best information to vote on key issues in the districtQuestions Answers In recent years, Dist. 15 has had contentious relationships between the board and teachers, teachers and the administration, and on the board itself. What is the root cause of this, what problems has it caused, and what must be done to improve it?I beleive this board has come together and worked well as a group. We have differing opinions on issues, but have listened to each other and have come together for the best decisions for the district. This includes the board and teachers, teachers and administration and within the board itself.Should District 15 continue to hold onto the 40 acres in Inverness that was originally intended for a new middle school, or look to sell it?Yes, I believe we need to hold on to his land, as we are not in the best of real estate times. We also need to be sure on shifting school needs, we are now heavy on schools North and East, differing school analysis could call for a facility on the West Side of Palatine. Also, we should look in to options to make this land useful for school projects and also explore ways to make this land useful for different groups in the community, PYB/S, PAFA, Celtic Soccer, Inverness SoccerHow do you think District 15 has handled budgetary pressures in recent years? Amid the uncertainties of outside funding sources, are there ways the district could be more in control of its own destiny?We need to be fiscally responsible, the uncertainty of what is happening with the State of Illinois makes this even a tougher burden. We were able to come to a great agreement with The CTC and this has helped tremendously and we need to always explore ways to make the best budgetary decisions. We are so dependent on the Taxes from our community we need to make sure we those dollars in the best possible way.How would you define the ideal working relationship between a school board and its administrators and teachers? To what degree does your school district represent this relationship now?The ideal working relationship is when the administration brings forward the best information in regards to all facets of the districts operations, they have done this extremely well. I believe the relationship that we have now with them is very representative of that. We have been able to move forward and extend the contract of our superintendent which should also keep this moving forward.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 State is going through many changes on the Common Core Standards and I believe the Board needs to listen to the experts on this topic and make the best decisions for the children of District 15. The Board is not the expert on this, we have people in place to explore and bring us the information and that will give The Board the chance to make an educated decision.