Thomas Drake: Candidate Profile

Back to Warren Township High School District 121 School Board 4-year term

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: GurneeWebsite: n/aOffice sought: Warren Township High School District 121 School Board 4-year term Age: 50Family: I've been living in the Gurnee area since 2003 after living in Grayslake from 1998 to 2003. I have been married to Angela Drake for 20 years and we have two kids Parker, a 2014 Warren Grad who is now attending the University of Illinois and Aubrea, currently a Junior at Warren.Occupation: Business Development Director at Kraft FoodsEducation: BS Manufacturing Engineering - UW Stout 1988Civic involvement: I have been active in a number of areas over the years. I was a Big Brother during the 90's, an assistant coach to my son's baseball team, Cub Scout Den leader driving involvement in many community functions, Northern Foods bank volunteer events, Gurnee Park District member working toward Shotokan Black Belt and I've been a mentor to the Warren FIRST robot since 2011.Elected offices held: I currently hold a seat on the Gurnee Planning and Zoning board.Questions 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?WTHS is doing a great job preparing our High School students for the next stages of their live. Through the tireless efforts of the curriculum facility, they constantly update and make the education at WTHS relevant. Technology challenges and advancement make this an on-going challenge. WTHS manages the resources so each student has the opportunity to explore and expand their capacities and talents. WTHS celebrates the diversity of thought, skills and interests so each student can find a path toward and education that fits them. Socially, WTHS feeds the thirst of student through organizations, councils, athletics, theater and many leadership opportunities. Recently, we've seen workshops held for both child and parent to help educate on important topics on texting and other social challenges. WTHS is a community that works together to do what's best for its student body. They're really aren't too many changes that need to be made - a continued effort to develop longer range strategic plans to stay ahead of the ever changing environment.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 our school faces are not unlike any other organization. WTHS does a great job at managing our financial planning and costs. The staff is top notch and continues to receive high ratings and positive audit results year after year. Increases in costs need to be planned with deliberate and long range strategic planning. As our school faces the continue challenges, as in the recent texting situations, developing and sustaining the educational sessions in an expanding breadth of responsibility expected from the school will take funding. I don't have specifics on needed cuts at this time - during my attendance of the board meetings reviewing the budget, plans to manage costs and revenue are in place. Increasing income through taxes should be taken only after all other efforts to balance have been exhausted, but at times are necessary as conditions change.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?NoAs 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?What's most important in managing any contract talks is to first maintain a respectful and professional relationship with the teacher/staff body when contract negotiations are not being conducted. The process of negotiating any contract should always be based on the mutual benefits of both parties. Concessions, costs, pay or benefit changes can be dynamic topics. Finding common ground in alignment with current business trends and comparable organization can help in finding that common ground.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?I believe that pay needs to be representative of the work and responsibility of the position. Distorting the pay to solely increase pension benefits is not something I would support. Increases in pay based on performance and results is something I support.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Our board today has had many recent distractions. These distractions have overshadowed so many of the great accomplishments within our school body. Its time to turn our attention back to the accomplishments and look forward to the challenges ahead. WTHS is the 21st largest school district in the nation and will continue to require longer term strategic planning to stay ahead of the changing environment.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Bill Gates - a man who single handedly changed our technological landscape forever and is now working to give it all back.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I was the 3rd youngest of a single parent household. If you wanted something, you had to work for it. Nothing is free.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have become a carpenter. Engineering allowed me to stay in the design field, but building houses was a true passion.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Physics - the purity of the physical science is amazing. The logic behind this science influences how I solve problems every day.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?I tell them all the time - Do what you love and everything else will happen.