Ed Novak: Candidate Profile

Back to Elgin-Area Unit 46 School Board 4-year terms

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: BartlettWebsite: NoneOffice sought: Elgin-Area Unit 46 School Board 4-year terms Age: 59Family: Wife, two boysOccupation: Retail ManagementEducation: BS Finance Northern Illinois UniversityCivic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Precinct Committeeman Assistant Precinct Committeeman Bartlett Library TrusteeQuestions Answers What is your position on standards-based grading, which has been controversial with parents, students and even some teachers? Did the district botch the implementation of this new system? What could it have done differently?I do not favor standards-based grading because I have not seen a significant amount of other schools adopt this method of grading. When students leave U46 and compete with other students for college placement or competing with other job applicants, SBG will make it difficult for someone outside of the school district to analyze a former student to determine if they have the best candidate. The implementation could have been handled better. A more gradual implementation would have been preferred. Subjects that provided an easy path to implementation should have been chosen first and follow up analysis done to provide feedback for the next topic of implementation. Both teacher and student feedback should be gathered. This process could take up to three years and I question the benefits versus the time and cost of SBG. We are talking about our students' future and also diverting teacher energies to learn a new system when the teachers are already dealing with Common Core and the dynamics of students in the classroom.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 never worked at a school district.Would you support holding the line on tax increases since the district has emerged from deficit spending and has a healthy surplus of roughly $50 million? Explain why or why not.According to the U46 demographics report, the school district is looking at a decreasing student population for the foreseeable future. In light of a decreasing student base I cannot support a tax increase.Would you support a charter school within U-46? Why or why not?I would support checking out charter schools. I would like to hear a presentation. I think the reason why we should look at a Charter or even Academy schools is to try to find solutions for the underperforming schools in the district. Will the benefits out way the costs? That should be answered. Can the results be quantified? That should be answered. Are there other alternatives that have been successful in other parts of the country? We need to look at every option. I am not in favor of doing something different for the sake of being different. The results should be readily discernible before proceeding with a project of this type. If the metrics look good then yes to a charter school.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? Be specific.One of the budgetary issues that will come up is the uneven State and federal funding. I have looked at the last 7 years of funding and found there can be some wild swings. We should be prepared for those. One of the best ways to hedge for those times is to have a rainy day fund. The current budget process has been issuing bonds as a rainy day fund. We need to get away from that strategy. In order to get a better handle on costs, I would like to see a maintenance, repair, and replace 5 year capital outlay strategic plan. Additionally, I would like to see all board members involved in all capital outlay requests from exploring options, to the bid process, and follow up upon completion of project. I think a more hands on approach will lead to a better less costly capital expenditure. Attrition should be a part of the plan. I do not support tax increases. With a slow decrease in student population I cannot see any reason to increase the amount per student by allowing the budget to migrate upward.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I would like to see to the board members do town hall meetings or coffee hours. These informal/coffee meetings should include parents, students, and teachers. Board meetings are very limited and because the school district is so big, driving to the school district may pose time and distance constraints. I would like to see a program that has career people come to the high schools to talk to students about different careers paths. These would be people who are actively working in that particular field and they could explain what happens in a particular day or week on that job. The positives and negatives plus what type of person excels and enjoys that type of work.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Michael JordanWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Work hardIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Started a family sooner.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Math. Helped me think in a logical orderly manner.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Dream big.