James Mathieson: 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: WarrenvilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Wheaton Warrenville District 200 School Board Age: 68Family: Spouse - Gail; three children Christie, Scott, Brett. 8 grandchildrenOccupation: CPA, entrepreneur.property ownerEducation: BS degree in Accounting from Northern Illinois UniversityCivic involvement: CUSD #200 School Board member; President Downtown Wheaton Assn.; 30+ year member and office holder of both Wheaton Chamber of Commerce and Wheaton Lions; Illinois CPA Society Chairman of school district committee; Bank board member Wheaton Bank and Trust; College of DuPage Foundation Board member; board member DuPage Heritage Gallery; board member Wheaton Cemetery Assn; Board member St Matthew's United Church of Christ; committee member Friends of District 200, Friends of the Park District and the Wheaton Grand Theatre; DWA "Spirit of Wheaton" Award recipient.Elected offices held: CUSD 200 Board of Education, President Down Wheaton Association, President Wheaton Club, Treasurer Wheaton Chamber of CommerceQuestions Answers How will you address the success of failure of your building referendum? How will you continue to inform the community about your commitment to funding capital projects regardless of the outcome?We, as a board, have put the question to the community to determine their wishes to help fund significant building projects and improvements in many cases caused by deferring maintenance over many prior years. In addition, I was instrumental in establishing a new board policy to set aside operating dollars as a method to prevent a similar situation in the future. If the referendum is successful, the board will have a major overview role to assure that costs are well controlled over a construction period that will last about five years. My financial background has been helpful in establishing the referendum amount, developing alternative cost approaches, and reviewing funding alternatives.If the referendum is unsuccessful, the operating fund spending toward capital projects will have to be addressed and closely monitored to maintain the high quality of education that the community demands. This will be extremely difficult for this board and many future boards. The board must balance the excellence of education with the amount of money the community agrees to invest in the District. Clearly, some of the planned building improvements for 21st century learning environment may need to be abandoned over the near term so that roofs, heating systems, plumbing projects, etc. can be addressed on a current basis.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?I am happy to say that CUSD 200 is and continues to be a high performing district. The unit of measure is primarily ACT/SAT scores and comparative testing results for other grade levels. These test results provide a measurement of trend lines. Evaluating student performance has always been a challenge in the educational community. I believe this approach is adequate but not fixed. We should always monitor and evaluate best practices as they change.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 District has an extremely qualified senior management staff. The staff consists of highly trained educators who stay current on modifying exiting curriculum and constantly evaluating changes and alternatives. As a board member, I have relied upon their expertise in education and have valued their guidance and presentation of alternatives for the board to consider.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 spending choices of prior boards to defer maintenance and changes in educational delivery has resulted in significant capital need for the buildings. The budget issue is financing the costs for these capital improvements. The current Board has developed a Master Facilities Plan to fix our buildings. This plan needs to be supported by the passing of the referendum. If the referendum is successful, no cuts to programs would be needed. If the referendum fails, the Board will have to address reductions in programs. This could result in classroom size changes, reduction of class offerings, or elimination of extra-curricular activities. Regardless of the outcome of the referendum, I feel my financial expertise will be extremely helpful to the next Board.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?CUSD 200 is and has been a high performing district and is a source of pride for the community. People move to CUSD 200 communities because of the successful school system here. Accordingly, I do not see any major change in our enrollment if any of these voucher systems become enacted other than possible increases in enrollment here. This however could change if the State continues to under fund public education. The result could be increases in enrollments to private schools.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I believe we must continue to enhance technology offerings. We must control costs and address funding of building maintenance on an ongoing basis. We must continue to keep the community engaged so that they can best direct us to the economic limits they wish to impose.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.PAUL RyanWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Family loyaltyIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I don't need a do over.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Accounting. Became my professionIf you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Enjoy life.