BRIAN LOFTUS: Candidate Profile

Back to Glenbard Township High School District 87 School Board

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: Glen EllynWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Glenbard Township High School District 87 School Board Age: 50Family: Julie (wife) children- Connor, Erin, Kevin, MatthewOccupation: Sales ExecutiveEducation: BS- Business, DePaul University MBA - Marketing Managment, DePaul UniversityCivic involvement: St. Petronille School Board - Glen Ellyn, ILElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.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?District's 87 motto of Inspireâ#128;brvbar;Empowerâ#128;brvbar;Succeedâ#128;brvbar; is working very well as students are regularly gaining admittance into top tier colleges. In addition, students are succeeding in our armed forces and in great junior colleges such as College of DuPage in a wide variety of programs. So today's students are doing very well. Another key tenant of the District is creating successful students in safe and supportive environments (home, school, community). This is an area where I believe the Board needs to be very aware of changes/trends in today's society in terms of student's access to technology, social media, and how our students engage and communicate overall. These changes/trends will affect existing policies that the Board may need to modify and raise the potential of creating completely new policy (ies).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 Illinois State Government continues to operate with significant deficits. We will need to be keenly aware of any changes in funding at the state level, particularly with a new Governor. So our District, along with all others in the State, will be faced with some level of short term uncertainty. From what I have seen, current Board leadership recognizes this and does pay close attention to both State and Federal funding issues. According to the State of Illinois District Report Card, about 85% of District 87 revenue comes from taxes whereas the referenced average is approximately 61%. I am not sure at this time that tax increases would be an avenue to pursue if we needed to look at revenue increases. With traditional funding avenues changing and our high tax base, the Board may need to consider new revenue (income) sources by more closely partnering with district businesses, general village or community programs, and even parent driven organizations within each of the four district schools. Lastly, the aforementioned report card shows that Federal funding accounts for less than 2% of our revenue, with the state average of 8%. So we may need to explore other funding options that may not have been previously targeted.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 am not employed by any school district, nor is anyone in my family.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?The current contract, which is five years, is in place through early 2017. In general, there seems to be a very good relationship with teacher union leadership and the District Board which is key to any new contract negotiation. Each year of the current contract had salary increases, so it would be important to compare past economic performance (i.e. inflation, etc.) to the provisions of the contract. Also, that same comparison would need to be completed for healthcare costs. It would seem that these two areas will be focal points for the new contract. Until the comparisons are done, it is hard to make a comment on direction in terms of concession, status quo, or increase.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 would not support an increased salary as way to improve pension benefits. Since District 87 is a strong performing group of schools, my belief is that the current superintendent salary is very competitive with comparable Illinois School Districts. So there really is not a need to use pension as an incentive. In addition, a superintendent moving into this role would most likely have an existing pension through previous service.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I believe that good school boards enact major policies after all sides of the matter have been studied and all persons or groups affected have been consulted. However, I have seen areas of concern where there is not a great deal of transparency in reviewing, revising, and changing policy- particularly as it relates to protecting the rights of our students. The Board needs to have policies in place that do not allow school administration to place students in uncompromising situations. Also good school boards should encourage public attendance at their meetings and keep constituents informed of the district's progress. Although there is very good communication as to schedules for Board meetings and content to be discussed, public participation and attendance is quite low. As in business, when decisions are made by a very few in a sort of vacuum, they may not necessarily be the best. I believe there is significant room for improvement to increase public participation sooner in policy process rather than later.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Pope Francis is doing an amazing job reaching millions of people with a simple, straightforward message that builds trust and excitement with his followers.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Everything is earned and nothing is a given.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?My father passed away my freshman year of college. Had I known he would depart too soon, I would have spent my teen years differentlyWhat was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Speech class both in high school and college provided a great framework to be organized, clear, concise, and confident in public speaking situations.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Always tell the truth.