Suzyn Price: 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: NapervilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Naperville Unit District 203 School Board Age: 47Family: Derke Price, spouse Nicholas Price, son Anne Price, daughterOccupation: Fund raiserEducation: BA, English Literature, Southern IL University, Carbondale MA, American History, SIU-CCivic involvement: Member, Naperville 203 Board of Education, 2003- Present President, Naperville 203 BOE, 2007-2009 Member, Naperville Downtown Rotary, 2015 Naperville Education Foundation, 2002-2005Elected 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?I think District 203 is doing an excellent job preparing students for college and career, as evidenced by 98.5% of 2014 graduates going to 2 and 4-year colleges after graduation. Our graduate surveys also indicate that District 203 graduates feel prepared for their higher education experience. These exciting results encourage District 203 to continue to strive to provide the highest quality education for our students. Our Focus 203 community meetings last year generated a strategic blueprint, called Focus 2020, in which we identified areas we can improve student learning. This work lead to a long-term plan to improve STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning to better prepare students for a global economy and also to an "extended school year" approach to summer school, in which we will offer courses and curriculum that integrate the school year experience to improve and extend student learning.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 District 203 Board of Education and Administration have been careful and cautious stewards of our financial resources. Our Finance Advisory Committee, made up of business and financial professionals from the community, has been a valuable partner in this effort by providing sound advice. We have kept debt service low and our conservative approach has resulted in a strong financial rating. District 203, like every school district in the state, faces challenges from the State of Illinois. Recent legislative efforts to redistribute state education dollars would have cost District 203, and although that particular effort was shelved at the end of 2014, we understand the state legislature will continue to explore ways to redistribute state funding. In addition, the state legislature perseveres in pursing ways to push the expenses of teacher pensions to local districts, an action that would cost District 203 millions. More concretely, the bonds District 203 issued to finance our renovation and renewal of schools, including Naperville Central, will start to mature in 2018 and we have prepared for that expense in our long term budgeting.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?No and no.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?Regarding financial positions, several years ago, we tied staff increases to a percentage of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which helped to ensure that our staff costs did not increase more than CPI and helped us to keep our expenditures in line with projected revenues. The Board of Education should always be open to hearing issues our bargaining units bring forward. The Administration meets regularly with union leadership to make sure that those lines of communication are open. The Board has developed and fostered a positive relationship with union leadership, as well, so that we can have conversations rather than conflicts. A positive relationship does not mean that either side accedes to the other, but rather than we can discuss issues honestly, with understanding and faith in each other's integrity. I will strive to continue those open, positive relations to ensure that we work in partnership with our unions so that we can fairly and efficiently negotiate fair and reasonable contracts that maintain the quality of our programs, our service to students; our value for the taxpayer, and the stability of our finances.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?N/AWhat other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I enthusiastically endorse our Focus 2020 strategic plan, which strives to provide comprehensive improvement district-wide to fulfill District 203's mission. I will work to ensure that District 203 meets the ambitious, but achievable goals of the Focus 2020 plan and maintains the quality that provides outstanding education to our students and even improves upon that.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator. Dr. Tyson has worked to educated the public on issues in science with wit and wisdom.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?My mother taught me tolerance and empathy. As her father told her, you can't know anyone until you have walked a mile in their shoes.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would worry less and enjoy the adventure more.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Literature taught me the complexity of people and life and to appreciate the magnificence of beautifully constructed sentence.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?The advice I repeat the most to my children is to never date/marry someone who doesn't stop to pet a dog or wave at babies.