Kathy Hewell: Candidate Profile

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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:BioQA Bio City: St. CharlesWebsite: No websiteOffice sought: St. Charles Unit District 303 School Board Age: 56Family: I have lived in St. Charles for 28 years with my husband, Charlie. We have three adult children: Allison, Stephen and Kerry who attended D303 schools through high school.Occupation: Retired geologist, currently a homemaker and volunteerEducation: B.A., Northwestern University, Geological Sciences. Two years of graduate work in stable isotope geochemistry at the University of Illinois, Champaign-UrbanaCivic involvement: Elected offices held: School Board member for three terms in CUSD 303Questions Answers How satisfied are you that your school district is adequately 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?I know that D303 is preparing our students well, for whatever path may choose. A very large percentage of our students choose to go to college or receive additional training. The average ACT score for the class of 2014 was 23.6. By comparison, the state of Illinois was 20.7. The ACT is touted as a measure of success in the first year of college. An average of 23.6 shows that our students are likely to get into their first reasonable choice of college, and do well.Although it used to be difficult to track our students as they matriculated, recent longitudinal data has shown us that a high proportion of our students persevere and graduate within 4-5 years. With 27 Advanced Placement courses, and 77% of the students receiving 3,4, and 5 (scores which can give you college credit depending on each college's policies) our students have the rigor, advanced classes, and personal qualities to do well, in any post-high school setting.What budgetary issues will your district have to confront during the next four years and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, be specific about programs and expenses that should be considered for reduction or elimination. On the income side, do you support any tax increases for local schools? Again, be specific.The budgetary issues that we will face are not of the district's making. The State of Illinois constantly cuts the low funding that most school districts in this area are due. With state level politicians clearly picking winners and losers, the D303 school board and Administration have been careful, thoughtful stewards of the tax payer's wallet. We educate our students at a per-pupil rate below the state average while our students achieve at a level far above the state. We continue to hold Financial 'Recognition' status from the state and eagerly anticipate the retirement of bonds sold almost twenty years ago, which will reduce the 2018 tax bill on a $300,000 home by $500-$600. The Board will have to address slowly falling enrollments, and has begun the process by convening a citizen group to gather and examine diverse data so we can better gauge the district's birth rates, turnover, growth areas, and enrollment trends. Once we get this report, we will determine if declining enrollment can equal a lower budget.Are you currently employed by or retired from a school district, if so, which one? Is any member of your direct family - spouse, child or child-in-law - employed by the school district where you are seeking a school board seat?I have never worked in any school district, and have no member of my family employed by D303.As contract talks come up with various school employee groups -- teachers, support staff, etc. -- what posture should the school board take? 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?Contract negotiations will come up in D303. The Board will examine the lay of the land in a year, set parameters, and monitor the progress of the superintendent's negotiating team. I expect there to be some give-and-take in the financial area. I was fortunate to be able to be the Board's liaison during the last talks and was completely impressed by the preparation, cooperation, and professionalism of the process. If our citizens were to have been in my silent seat, they would have been proud of what they saw, a group with an eye toward doing the best for everyone-- students, teachers, staff, parents and taxpayers. 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?Our Board has not increased the pension benefits for any administrator and I do not expect that to change. It should be noted that our superintendent has not had a raise in his salary during his eight years in St. Charles. I wish I could say that it was savvy negotiating on the Board's part but the truth is that each time his contract came up for renewal, Dr. Schlomann decided that the economy dictated that it 'wasn't a good time' and declined consideration of a raise. What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?One issue that is unique to D303 is that the next board will exercise it's greatest responsibility and choose the next superintendent. This is an arduous, time-consuming task. As one who has gone through this process twice before, I know that I will lend valuable experience to the decision-making, and will represent the community's desires with fidelity.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Unfortunately, no current leader actually inspires me.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?The best lesson that I learned at home as a child was to "Always do your best."If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?My do-over would be to continue playing piano. After 7 years of lessons, I thought I could stop and kind of do it on my own. Of course that didn't happen!What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?My favorite supjects in school were the sciences and math (until calculus!) In high school, I did well in all of them and didn't know which to concentrate on until a friend gave me a geology book. I was drawn to it's observational nature, the variety of branches of study, and mostly to it's incorporation of all the other sciences I enjoyed so much. This choice affected my life profoundly, studying geology at Northwestern and the U of I. This path led to a job as a petroleum geologist in New Orleans, a job that I loved and miss to this day.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.