Ellen Mauer: Candidate Profile

Back to Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128 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: LibertyvilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128 School Board Age: 51Family: Tim, husband; married 26 yearsKate, sophomore at Libertyville High ScholNick, 6th grader at Highland Middle SchoolOccupation: full time elementary principal at Gurnee 56 and part-time adjunct professor at Concordia UniversityEducation: Ph.D. in Educational Leadership Policy Studies, Loyola University,Chicago, Illinois-1998M. Ed. in Educational Leadership,National Louis University, Evanston, Illinois, 1992B.S. in Elementary Education,University of Illinois,Champaign-Urbana, Illinois-1987Civic involvement: -Member of Board of Education for District 128 for 12 years (current)-Member of the Johnson Larsen Fund of the Lambs Farm for 3 years (current)-Member of the Board of Directors for YMCA Camp Jorn (current)-St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church Parish Council Member 2005-2007-Rotary of Gurnee 2008-2010Elected offices held: BOE Member for District 128 from 2004 to present.Questions Answers There's been a lot of talk over the past year in District 128 about school spending and high taxes. Are budget cuts needed? If so, where would you cut and why?These topics are common in many districts. I don't know anyone who thinks their taxes are too low in any community. The Board of Education needs to involve taxpayers, staff, and students in financial planning sessions that go over the costs of each program and the effects of cutting each of the programs. After significant discussion and feedback, then it would be appropriate for the Board of Education to determine whether or not cuts are necessary and in what areas. One board member acting alone should never determine those kinds of cuts in isolation. There has to be consensus. It should be noted that personnel costs are the largest costs in any school district, approximately 70-80 percent of a budget. Program costs need to be calculated including personnel costs because it would be impossible to make any significant differences in a budget without consideration of personnel.Do you support proposals to build a new pool at LHS or the now-shelved plan for a second gym at VHHS? Why or why not?I am in support of building the pool at LHS and, at some point in the future, a second gym in VHHS if/when the right time comes. Our Board of Education has always been very proactive about making repairs and replacements in our facilities on a regular basis. Continuing to do that means that we spend less money in the long run by having to repair and replace on an emergency basis. That is more costly. We don't ever want to be in a position that our facilities are deteriorating or unsafe for students to inhabit. We also don't want to keep dumping money into repairs when it is clear that there is a diminishing rate of return. At some point, it becomes less expensive over time to do a replacement rather than continuing to pour money into a structure or item without seeing a great deal of improvement.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?Our measures of student success have been by test data (SAT, ACT, AP), numbers of students in extra-curricular activities, and anecdotal records from previous students who attended our schools. All of this has been very positive and our trend data continues to rise in these areas. While that is cause for celebration, I would like to see our district now start to focus on the students who may not feel as included and see what options exist to get them connected. Their social emotional well-being is crucial to their development as a students and can have implications for how well they do in classes. Student success can be measured in different ways and it depends upon one's definition as to whether or not the criteria have been met. Any changes would have to be run through discussion at the board level after soliciting feedback and information from the groups who have the information: students, staff, and community groups.What budget issues will your district have to confront and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax or fee increases?Our district is already confronting the fact that we are deficit spending in some areas. We are planning to hold financial forums to help educate the public about how school finance works, how these deficits came into being, and what scenarios are likely to change them. I would support measures that will positively affect the shortfalls; however, these measures must be discussed and approved as a Board of Education AFTER significant discussion and input by staff, student, and community groups. No one entity can determine in isolation what to cut or whether or not tax/fee increases are necessary. It takes all constituents working together to come up with a plan that the majority of the taxpayers will find reasonable. It could likely be a combination of cuts, fee increases, and tax increases, but what kind of combination that looks like has to be determined together.What role can and should school choice play in your district? If Congress or the state approves a voucher system or other means giving students broader choices among public and private schools, how will that affect your district? What is the appropriate response for the board of education of a public school system?Our school district already provides a choice zone within the district that has been in place since Vernon Hills High School was built. The purpose was to offer students who were enrolled in the Hawthorn elementary district to be able to stay with their peers from that district instead of being forced to go to Libertyville High School where they may not have as large a social circle. If vouchers are approved state-wide, our district will likely be affected by neighboring students being sent to our schools by their parents. This could potentially overcrowd the buildings and make class sizes very large. The Board of Education would not be able to refuse to follow state or federal law so there would not be much of a response. I would hope that districts would be given enough lead time if that was being contemplated as a law, to be able to get together, have discussion, outline specific effects on the school district, and convey those effects to their appropriate state and federal representatives so that they fully understood the long term ramifications of voting for such a system.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I think that it is important to seek out new ways to continue to get feedback from our students and staff and to continue to include them in district level decisions in some way. We don't ever want to forget that the students/staff are the ones who will live with firsthand the effects of the decisions that we collectively make on their behalf. We regularly hear from citizens through letters, email, and at public comment during meetings. We do not hear from students and staff in the same manner, for the most part.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.The leader inspiring me was my 5th grade teacher. Her leadership inspired me to make education my field.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Life isn't fair; do the best with what we have to make things better. Have a strong work ethic; be true to my morals.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would take greater advantage of the extra curriculars offered in high school and college. I would have been more extroverted.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?It changed each year depending upon the quality of the teacher. I learned to hire those kinds of teachers for my students as a principal.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Don't compromise your ethics. It is not going to be easy to do what you know in your heart is right. Stay true to yourself.