Harold Lonks: 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: WinfieldWebsite: www.haroldlonks.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Harold Lonks for CUSD200 School Board MemberOffice sought: Wheaton Warrenville District 200 School Board Age: 57Family: Wife and twin girlsOccupation: Self-employedEducation: University of Dayton, BS in Accounting and FinanceCivic involvement: Monroe Middle School PTA MemberCUSD200 Enrollment CommitteeCUSD200 Engage200 Committee Jefferson School PTA Member and DelegatePleasant Hill School PTA Executive Board MemberPleasant Hill School classroom volunteerKlein Creek Homeowner Association Board MemberSt John's Church MemberMilton Township Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) MemberElected offices held: noneQuestions 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?If the referendum is successful, I would ask the new board along the administration to revisit the projects presented in the facilities plan to determine what is really needed versus what is just wanted. The school district has up to five years to issue the debt and the current plan is to issue the debt over that period of time because many projects have long lead times. The building portion of the referendum is approximately 50% of the total being borrowed.If the referendum fails, the budget will need to be reassessed to address the immediate facility needs of the district first. Any budget changes will have no or little impact on student learning. The school board will convey our commitment to capital projects and facility needs through the District's newsletter "Focus on Learning" to the public. A few months ago the school board adopted the "Sherman-Degris" formula, which aids in determining the amount to be budgeted each year for future capital needs. This calculation is based on the age and condition of each of the 20 buildings in the district. The schools must be kept in the best possible condition to give our students the best environment to educate them.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?District 200 is one of the highest ranked school districts in our state. The Niche K-12 website ranks our district ninth overall, based on its analysis of academic and student life data which includes the school district's test scores and college data.The process of measuring the success of our students over time has become difficult due to the state changing the tests from elementary to high school levels. Students in elementary through middle school grades now take the PARCC test instead of the ISAT, while the high schools are using the SAT test instead of the ACT. These changes in the short term will make it hard to measure the success of our students, since a new baseline will need to be developed. Also there is discussion in the education system to eliminating PARCC testing and replacing it again.I would set aside monies in the budget for high school students to continue taking the ACT exam so the district can continue to monitor student performance and learning as it has in the past. Additionally, our district has developed assessment testing at grade levels to measure the student's learning progress during the school year.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 school board needs to be playing a larger role in reviewing changes to the curriculum made by school administrators. Many parents, including myself, have been disappointed in changes made to the curriculum over the past few years. Many parents would like to see cursive writing and spelling added back to the curriculum. Others would like to see other language(s) and basic civic courses at the elementary level. Our students need to keep up with students around the world that are multi-lingual. CUSD200 students should be studying the U.S. and Illinois Constitutions, and understand our fundamental liberties and freedoms as Americans. This should begin in elementary schools since high schoolers gain voting rights beginning at age 17. Finally, the school board and administration should reconsider the use of Common Core in the curriculum.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?This district may be confronted with many unknown budget issues such as: the state dictating a multi-year tax levy freeze, changing our education funding formula, delays or reductions to education funding, and pushing pension liabilities to the local level, to name but a few. If any or some of the budget items mentioned above happen, the entire budget would need to be reassessed. The first priority would be to continue providing our students with a top quality education for academic success. It would be premature to say what programs should be reduced or eliminated without knowing the amount of any budget shortfalls. This is why the school board needs fiscally responsible school board members to get a handle on spending while putting the students first. Even without the proposed referendum, CUSD200 is carrying $198 million in debt. The $132.5 million referendum does not consider interest costs, which brings the true cost to $206 million. This does not strike me as wise at this time "â#128;œ it greatly expands the district's debt obligation at a time when Illinois is already struggling with too much existing debt. At this time, I would not support any tax or fee increase. Actually I would like to reduce some of the fees paid to the school district. Some of the fees prevent students from participating in some school activities since the family does not qualify for free or reduced fee program but can't afford their students to participate in these hard economic times.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?If school choice becomes available to students in the future, parents might be able to decide what is best to meet their child's educational needs. Any impact should be minimal to the district since our students are already provided a high quality education. CUSD200 is deservedly labeled a coveted "destination district" for parents and teaching careers. Our board of education needs to keep providing resources to allow the best possible learning experience for our students.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I cannot say enough about the importance of fiscal responsibility in the decision making of the board. Our state sits on the brink of fiscal collapse, and people are leaving the state in large numbers due to our dysfunctional political system. Now is not the time to ask taxpayers for a significant tax increase in the form of a referendum. I am additionally interested in serving on the school board because of concerns about a lack of transparency by the current board of education regarding the voting on agenda and action items at board meetings. Entire discussions regarding items to be voted upon take place by board members through the superintendent in order to avoid open meeting violations. Agenda items need to be discussed in a public forum (school board meeting) to allow the public know what is happening and what concerns board members might have concerning certain issues being voted on by board members.Finally, I am motivated by my own knowledge and understanding of issues affecting the education of our students. Since moving into the district over 7 years ago, I have attended a large majority of school board meetings, board finance and facility meetings, served on district committees and volunteered in our schools. I have the knowledge and commitment to ensure that the district puts the students first without forgetting about our parents and taxpayers, and committing to full transparency on school board business and keeping District 200 as one of the top school districts in Illinois.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Congressman Randy Hultgren "â#128;œ strong in his ideals, good listener and very respected representative from Illinois.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Work hard, be honest, respect others and treat others the way you like to be treated.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would spend more quality time with my father who passed away when I was 18 years old.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?High school accounting class that allow me to find my ability to work with and understand numbers to become an accountant and financial person.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Listen to your parents in finding the right path that will make their lives fulfilling.