How would District 220 candidates address hard cuts?

If the state significantly cut money to local school districts and the Barrington Area Unit School District 220 budget needed to be adjusted, candidates Joe Ruffolo and Angela Wilcox said they would look to cut the district's specialty programs before firing teachers and raising class sizes.

Their comments, spoken at a candidate forum Wednesday morning at the Barrington Area Library, were in response to a question that asked how they would prioritize District 220's programs if the state cut funding or put other financial obligations onto local districts, like pensions.

Ruffolo said he is a strong believer in preserving the educational core and he categorizes programs as being either absolutely essential or a luxury.

"I would actually start with specialty programs first," Ruffolo said. "Then look at what would affect classrooms and class sizes second."

Four candidates are running for three seats on the District 220 school board. Ruffolo of South Barrington and Brian Battle of Barrington are incumbents; challengers are Alexandra Bernardi of North Barrington and Wilcox of Barrington Hills. The forum was hosted by The PTO President's Council.

Bernardi, the president of the Barrington Chinese Immersion Council and who has two children in the program, spoke up for the specialty programs, and said they benefit the community at large, not just the children enrolled in them.

"We have so many families that move here for our gifted programs, our language programs and our amazing programs at the high school," Bernardi said. "I think if we chop away at too many of those then we're pulling the rug out from underneath our district."

She said she often hears from Realtors who say their international clients often choose Barrington over other villages because of their special programs and test scores.

"We have a reputation that goes far beyond Illinois," Bernardi said.

Wilcox, meanwhile, said while she agrees that unique educational opportunities attract families to the area, good teachers are the most important factor.

"I would definitely look to cut programs that do not provide the best results for college and career readiness, as well as programs that do not benefit the greatest reach for our children," Wilcox said. "I believe that teachers are vital."

Battle said he supports the language immersion programs and the extended programs because he thinks educationally all of these have value to the kids participating in them.

He said the board has looked into the cost of the programs, which wouldn't be enough to matter if District 220 faced truly dramatic cuts.

One of the biggest expenses is transportation costs, Battle said.

"If the transportation mandate ever changed we might look at charging those transportation costs to the parents," Battle said.

He added that if the budget concerns were great enough the board would have to look carefully at all of the district's programs.

The candidates answered questions on a variety of topics for nearly two hours before a crowd of more than 50 people. The questions were provided by the PTO council as well as from the audience.

The event was moderated by former CNN financial correspondent Brian Jenkins.