District 211 hopefuls talk finances, staff oversight

Among the key issues facing the eight candidates vying for four available seats on the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 school board are finances and the proper role of the board in overseeing the administration.

Seeking election on April 7 are incumbents Mucia Burke and Richard Gerber; former board member Edward Yung; former candidate Roman Golash; and first-time hopefuls Peter Dombrowski, Will Hinshaw, Robert Lithgow and Lauanna Recker.

Both incumbents defended the financial stewardship the current board is providing.

Burke said she aims for sound finances by looking for efficiencies rather than programs to cut.

"I do think the district is really doing a good job with that, and I think the current board is asking a lot of hard questions," she said.

Gerber said the district can boast its strong academic programs because it made financial health a priority in the first place.

"I look at some of the school districts that don't have that benefit, and it seems like the pressure is crushing to them, where they're so focused on 'How do I make next month's payroll,' not really thinking about: How am I moving the kids forward? What are the expectations for college or vocational opportunities?" he said.

Newcomer Dombrowski is critical of the district's large reserves, which significantly exceed the 33 percent of annual operations costs called for by district policy. If there is a need to have 50 percent in reserves, the policy should have been changed, he said.

"We have so much fund balance that is collecting interest," Dombrowski said. "We're talking about things that may or may not happen. We're preparing for a zombie apocalypse, that's the way I like to think of it."

Board members should be willing to take on more tasks being given to administrators, like serving on the advisory board for the village of Schaumburg's new tax-increment finance district, he added.

Recker offered similar criticisms. She said she hasn't seen any current board members questioning the annual property tax levy.

"My first question to them is, 'What are you going to do when the Schaumburg residents have left to the point where you're really not going to get anything because you've pushed them?' And that's exactly the mindset I keep hearing from homeowners - that they're pushing this tax levy to the point where they've considered leaving - regardless of the roots that they've placed here," she said.

Lithgow agreed, criticizing the perceived need to levy near the maximum amount each year for fear of losing money to the tax cap.

"You're not losing money unless it belongs to you," Lithgow said. "Put from the other point of view, the taxpayers' point of view, they stand to lose that same amount of money if you keep levying the maximum amount. So there's a disconnect - there's no assessment of what we actually need to spend to make this district operate."

Hinshaw agreed that district reserves are a hot issue, but also noted that they've prepared the district for all the unknowns being thrown at it by the state.

"I certainly agree that the district is in a strong financial position, and we're probably more fortunate in District 211 than a lot of other school districts are because we have the reserves," Hinshaw said. "I think the key is remembering the students are the most important thing in the district, but continuing to be responsible and making thoughtful decisions as the issues surface."

Yung said the District 211 board he belonged to knew the proper balance between auditing the work of administrators on these issues without micromanaging.

"However, being a rubber stamp board is also not a good thing because if there's not disagreement with anything the superintendent or staff says, you're basically giving the superintendent an open checkbook," Yung said

There should be no place on the board for members with personal or hidden agendas, he added.

Golash did not attend endorsement interviews at the Daily Herald and could not be reached for comment for this story. However, he did complete a candidate questionnaire which addressed the issue of finances.

"I am against a tax increase in District 211," he wrote. "The district needs to follow a 5- to 20-year strategic plan to decrease costs while maintaining a solid educational program."

Golash also wrote that collective bargaining has not been good for the district, and that a third-party bargaining agent should be hired to negotiate contracts in the place of board members or the superintendent.