Bob Tarasewicz: 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: LisleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Raising Expectations Lisle 202Office sought: Lisle Unit District 202 School Board Age: 52Family: Wife, Andrea, and 5 Children, Jacob, Abby, Max, Sam, and Ben.Occupation: Electrical EngineerEducation: M.S.E.E. Illinois Institute of TechnologyB.S.E.E. University of Illinois at ChicagoCivic involvement: Currently serving 12th year on Lisle 202 school board. Having 5 kids I have had extensive involvement coaching baseball, softball, and soccer, as well as roles in Scouts.Elected offices held: Board member Lisle 202 School District 2005-present.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?I feel that Lisle 202 is good school district with many great qualities, but I honestly believe we have the potential to become a much better school district "â#128;œ one to which other districts would aspire. Lisle 202 has numerous strengths: Small size, qualified and compassionate teachers and staff, dedicated administrators, solid finances, very competitive salary and benefits, an abundance of technology and other resources, etc. In order to harness Lisle 202's numerous strengths and become an exceptional district, the School Board can no longer be content with just being good. In order to become an exemplary school district the Board needs to change its mindset and it needs to create a culture of high expectations, develop more objective and systematic approaches to governance, and start providing active, visionary leadership. I am motivated by the prospect of being part of School Board changes that will help Lisle 202 go from being a good district to a great district.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?During my tenure in office I have been a major proponent of Board-level and district-level changes and improvements, chief among them being changes to the overall process of goal-setting, data-monitoring, and action-planning. From a continuous improvement cycle point of view the District's overall process is not adequate. While the Board recently has taken some initial small steps towards more systematic approaches to performance monitoring, there is still much room for process improvement if we want to drive improved student growth and achievement. I feel that the Board's approach to goal setting and its role in reviewing action plans is often just a "rubber stamp" of the administration's recommendations. A prime example is the timing of the administration's presentation of the School Improvement Plans to the Board: The current Board is content with waiting until December "â#128;œ when half the school year is over "â#128;œ before being informed of the given school year's action plans and building-level goals. It would be more advantageous to have this report in beginning of the school year. Another example is the lack of Board discussion of progress (or in some cases the lack thereof) of district goals and test scores. I feel that there is still much more work to be done before the process becomes effective in driving continuous improvement and sufficiently satisfies the Board's duty to monitor progress towards district goals.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?I believe that the School Board's role is to provide high level visionary leadership and establish clear and concise district level goals, and then let the educational experts "â#128;œ the administration and staff "â#128;œ set the curriculum that would align to these goals. The Board must ensure that the curriculum is aligned with both district goals as well as state and federal mandates; i.e. Common Core, ESSA. To do so the Board must be familiar enough with the over-arching requirements so that it can ask intelligent questions regarding the administration's choice of curriculum and implementation plans, and then institute an effective progress monitoring system to ensure that the desired outcomes "â#128;œ i.e. scores on PARCC, ACT/SAT, etc. - are being achieved.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?Lisle 202 is fortunate to be in a strong financial position due to a supportive community and fiscally responsible practices. Although our local budget is continually subject to changes at the state and federal level, I do not think that cuts are necessary in the near future. The two largest budget challenges that will need to be addressed are the building of a new elementary school and the continual expansion of staffing levels. Building a new school, estimated at $39 million, will obviously require fiscal restraint and careful analysis of cost/benefit tradeoffs to stay within budget. The more difficult task will be reigning in the present practice of adding new staff and administration positions even though the number of students declines. On the surface each new position the administration recommends has merit, but after adding approximately 3 new full time positions each year for the past 7 years I do not see the expected impact on student performance materializing in our test scores or other figures of merit. On the income side I would anticipate the tax levy to increase roughly with Consumer Price Index, as per the Tax Cap Law. However, I do think the Board should seriously look at the concept of occasionally rebating a portion of real estate taxes when fund balances exceed some predetermined level. Discussion of the concept could begin immediately, but I would propose holding off taking action until costs for the new elementary school are known with a high level of confidence.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?School choice is not a topic our Board has needed to discuss yet, so my opinion regarding its role is not well formed at this time. Given that Lisle 202 is a good school district surrounded by many other good school districts, I'm not sure what the net movement of students would be. I imagine some parents would want to send their child to charter schools. The more we increase our test scores the less likely parents would look at charter schools as an alternative. Some data indicates that charter schools statistically aren't necessarily any better than public schools, so it is difficult to predict the effect of choice and charter schools. If, however, the voucher system were to include private schools, then I would assume that some students will chose to attend private schools for academic and/or religious reasons. Ultimately I believe that every student, regardless of where they live or the household they were born into, deserves a high quality public education. The appropriate response for Lisle 202 is to learn from high-performing schools, whether they are public, charter, or private, and adopt those best practices in a timely manner such that it makes our district one that guarantees students to be successful and college career ready. Not only is it the right thing to do, but if school choice becomes a reality then it will limit our exposure to students choosing other schools.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Issues related to educational equity are very important to me. In addition to strongly advocating for changes that improve overall district performance, I am a fervent advocate for ensuring that the needs of all student sub-groups and learner types are met. In addition to addressing the student challenges related to race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, or special education aspects so that the achievement gap can be narrowed, I also believe the district should further differentiate its programs and services such those students that are already performing at grade level move to exceeding standards, and those that are high-performing are sufficiently challenged. In order to meet all the needs of our students, not just the academic ones, I also feel strongly that the school district must become more culturally aware and responsive to non-academic issues facing our diverse student body.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Elizabeth WarrenWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Work hard; do your bestIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Try becoming a military helicopter pilot.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Math. As an Electrical Engineer math was a critical subject while earning my engineering degrees and continues to play a role in my professional life.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Carry yourself with integrity and put a solid effort into everything you do