Kristin Fitzgerald: 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: www.electfitzgerald.comTwitter: @kristinwfitzFacebook: www.facebook.com/fitzgeraldforschoolboard/Office sought: Naperville Unit District 203 School Board Age: 45Family: I have three daughters who attend District 203 schools. I am a widow. My husband Ray Fitzgerald died in 2009 after a courageous battle with stomach cancer.Occupation: Policy and Advocacy Consultant and Community VolunteerEducation: Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Taylor University, 1993Civic involvement: Classroom Volunteer and Room Parent 2010-PresentCo-Chair Mill Street Elementary School Family Community Partnership 2012-PresentCo-Chair Jefferson Junior High School Family Community Partnership 2014-PresentNaperville Settlement Museum Board 2013-2016Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer, Corporate Advisory Council 2012-PresentNaperville Park District Soccer Coach 2009-2014St. Raphael Religious Education Teacher 2007-Present Cancer Research Advocate 2009-PresentElected offices held: Naperville District 203 School Board 2013-PresentQuestions Answers With growing concern around mental health and addiction, what should the district do to build mentally healthy students, support the mental health of students who have mental illnesses and help students avoid addiction?Building the mental and emotional health of all our students is an important priority and one that is shared by parents, educators, staff, administrators and the Board. The Board recently approved new curriculum to support students' social and emotional well-being, build self-awareness skills and teach students to make good decisions. Substance abuse prevention messages are included in health curriculum as well. Social workers, counselors and health staff work with teachers in delivering these messages and assisting students in building life-long mental and emotional health. Partnering with parents is a vital part of achieving these goals. School groups sponsor educational forums and offer parents many resources to help their children make healthy choices, avoid addictions and access school and parent resources when they need help.In addition, schools, families and students are partnering with organizations such as Operation 360, REACH, Kids Matter, Parents Matter and many other community efforts to help students achieve emotional well-being and prevent substance abuse. Basketball player Chris Herren spoke to students as a part of one such collaboration.For students with mental illnesses, teams of administrators, counselors and social workers work with parents and students to develop specialized plans to ensure they have the support they need to be successful academically and emotionally.Each of these is an essential aspect in building and supporting mentally and emotionally healthy students and I am grateful for the strong support of our entire community in assisting our youth. It is this partnership that will help our students be successful.Research and a local opinion survey have shown there could be benefits to starting the school day later for junior high and high school students. What changes, if any, do you think should be made to the school schedule and why? How should the district adjust class periods, teacher preparation time, busing, student activities or other factors to account for any schedule changes?The issue of adolescent sleep was studied by a District 203 Committee. National research suggests that 87 percent of high school students get less than the recommended hours of sleep per night. Many factors contribute to this, such as homework, extra-curricular participation, and part-time jobs. However, researchers have advocated that starting the school day later would help students get more sleep. The District Committee found that high school and possibly junior high students could potentially benefit from starting the school day later. The Naperville community was then surveyed to determine the views of the school and larger community.Community support exists for the idea of starting the high school day later. For junior high and elementary students, the results of the survey were less clear. At community forums, many questions were raised about the feasibility, costs and impact of proposals to change the school day, the impact on extra-curricular participation with outside schools, the timing of practices and academic supports, and the effect on academic time.For school year 2017-18, the district is putting together a proposal for a weekly late start time to allow students more sleep, and provide additional time for teacher collaboration. I support the goals of this proposal and look forward to evaluating it in more detail. Moving forward, the district is studying the elementary, junior high and high school day to determine how the logistics of larger plans could be implemented. I will wait to hear details of a specific proposal before determining my support.How big a role do you think the board of education should play in setting the curriculum for students and what ideas do you have for changes to the current curriculum?The greatest responsibility of the Board of Education is the selection of an outstanding Superintendent to ensure that students meet and exceed the academic goals set by the Board of Education. This person is then accountable to recommend the hiring of high quality administrators, teachers and curriculum specialists who work as a team to develop the curriculum for students.The Board plays a role in this, approving the hiring of curriculum teams and developing and approving policies that set curricular expectations and ensure that curriculum meets state standards and is appropriately rigorous.Once those policies and expectations are set by the Board, I believe that curriculum development should fall to the trained team who works to set and pilot the curriculum and ensure that it effectively functions to help students meet and exceed the standards that will be assessed by required state assessments, such as the PARCC tests.As it is often state legislators and regulators who mandate standards, assessments and curricular requirements, the Board of Education also must play a role in communicating its support or concerns about these policies as they are considered.I believe the district's current focus, implementing the rigorous new English, math and science curriculum to meet state standards, and establishing new social and emotional curriculum, has a proven track record with achievement by our students well above state averages and benchmark districts. We are on the right track and I will continue to support the district's actions in this regard.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?The greatest budget challenge our district faces is operating without assurance of state and federal funding. Since 2013, Illinois legislators have considered restructuring of state funds for education, proposals to freeze property taxes, legislation shifting the cost of pensions to school districts, and numerous state mandates. Federally, proposals to reduce Title I funds for Illinois were considered and postponed. The cumulative impact of these proposals would have drastically reduced District 203's funding. Even without such actions, the state and federal support for education pales in comparison to the cost of educating our students. Illinois funds education at one of the lowest levels of any state. Federal funding provides a fraction of the cost. These education shortfalls leave the burden of funding schools to local communities. Thus, one of our most important challenges is to look at our tax levies responsibly, understanding that state actions may leave us with reduced funding, but also considering the burden of taxation on our community.I support our district's plan to pay off bonds early and to abate our debt service levy to provide relief to tax payers while still ensuring necessary resources in case of state actions. I have supported efforts to conserve funds by doing things more efficiently, such as health plan design changes which reduced costs by $2 million. I have also supported fee increases, such as our technology fee increase to support the cost of our digital learning initiative. We must always work to provide services in the most efficient manner.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?Both federal and state legislators have considered legislation to allow additional choices, particularly in the case of failing schools. However, in communities like Naperville, where the public schools are doing an excellent job of helping students succeed, I am concerned that school choice proposals would negatively impact our schools by lessening scarce public resources.Every student is different, some students need far more resources to be successful, and public schools take on the mission of ensuring that all students, regardless of income, minority status, or disability, have the resources they need to achieve their potential.Often school choice proposals fail to consider this fact, allowing charter or private schools to access public resources without being subject to this accountability. Recent proposals have focused on using funding directed to low-income students for school choice. However, many of these students cannot take advantage of proposed choices due to factors such as the lack of transportation. Were such proposals to be enacted, I am concerned that students who are already exhibiting gaps in achievement, such as those who are economically disadvantaged, or who have a disability, would suffer the greatest impact as it is these students who are most at risk of falling behind without adequate resources.Should this legislation be considered, I believe it is the role of the Board of Education to ensure that legislators and the public understand the negative impact for our students. I take this responsibility seriously and regularly communicate with legislators about the impact of legislative proposals.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?When I ran for the Board of Education, I promised to focus my efforts on working for the achievement of all students and closing achievement gaps. All students, regardless of economic status, racial or ethnic minority status, or disability, should be successful in our schools.As a Board Member, I have been a ceaseless advocate for this cause. Our district's academic achievement is high; students who are at or above standards on state PARCC tests (65%) are almost double the state average (34%).However, academic success is not equal for all students. In our community, these gaps are greatest in students with economic disadvantages who are often disproportionately minority. These students lag behind other students academically; in some schools, exhibiting achievement gaps of more than 50 percent. This disparity in achievement despite concerted and sustained efforts, highlights the continuing need for efforts to help all children succeed. I have worked to establish parent led groups to support families whose children exhibit achievement gaps, to ensure support for these families in school and at home. In addition, as a Board Member I have advocated for high standards and accountability, increased resources, and greater community collaboration to ensure that all students succeed.Though achievement gaps are a national disparity, I believe Naperville 203 has the commitment and resources to surmount the barriers to success for these students and show national leadership in addressing and closing achievement gaps. As a Board Member I will continue working to achieve progress toward this important goal.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Mawi Asgedom, a local author and education advocate, inspires me with the power of each person in our community to help kids succeed.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I learned the importance of family and faith, to work hard and to love reading, all things that still enrich my life today!If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?If there was a way to prevent my husband from getting cancer, I would spend my do-over on that.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I loved English. The ability to write and speak authentically has helped me advocate for so many important causes.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Find the mission that is uniquely yours and do not let anyone stop you from contributing that gift to the world.