Lisa Beth Szczupaj: 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: PalatineWebsite: http://engaged15.comTwitter: @LBSzczupajFacebook: yes - Lisa Beth SzczupajOffice sought: Palatine District 15 School Board Age: 47Family: My husband Jim and I have been married for 24 years. We have two sons. Zachary is a sophomore at Fremd High School and Nathan is a sixth grader at Stuart R. Paddock Elementary School.Occupation: Director of Business Development - Sika CorporationEducation: Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a major in Spanish and a minor in Business Administration. Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from DePaul University with dual concentrations in Change Management and International Business.Civic involvement: District 15 Parent's Committee for Educational Excellence - 3 years.Stuart R Paddock PTA Board Member - 10 years.Boy Scout Troop 209 Committee Member - 4 years.Team Mom for Palatine Penguins Lacrosse Club Palatine Amateur Football Association - numerous years.Frequent volunteer for programs at Paddock, Plum Grove Junior High School and Fremd.Member of the Fremd Music Association.Member of the Fremd Booster Club.Elected offices held: NoneQuestions 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 began the journey which has led to me filling out this survey 5 years ago with the Wednesday Late Start/Early Release controversy. It was then that I realized our D15 Administration and School Board could do a much better job of considering stakeholders in their decision making. At that time, a contract was signed which included a late start Wednesday for all D15 students from kindergarten to 6th grade. The Administration, Board and Teacher's Union forget to think about the effect of the weekly one day morning change on small children, families, working parents, private schools which share our busses, special needs children, day care facilities, etc. It took a grassroots community movement led by me to open the eyes of the decision makers and allow consideration of a move of the contracted teacher enrichment time to Friday afternoon where it would be less of a disruption to our children and families. We have experienced a new low this past year in stakeholder engagement, concern and respect for our positions when it comes to large decisions made by the D15 Administration and Board. I want to be part of the change that ensures all members of the District 15 community are thought of prior to making decisions that affect them. I want to help build a School Board team that collaborates in their well informed decision making as opposed to giving the impression that they are thoughtlessly rubber stamping questionable requests.What was your position on the district's proposal to build two new schools, which failed in the November election? Why? How should the district address its facilities needs over the next two years? Would you support another referendum, and if so, how do you think a plan can be developed that would pass?I was not in favor. I felt it was a poorly conceived plan without data support, thoughtful presentation or analysis of alternatives. Over and over again we heard that our facilities are at or beyond capacity yet our K-6 enrollment over the past 10 years is down 600 students. In the past 3 years alone, we are down 150. You cannot expect to pitch a plan for $130 million based on capacity constraints without compelling data to support the why of it. We may need another school. We may need an alternate plan to support preschool children. Let's look at the data to support that as well as alternate plans prior to trying to push through a decision. We have yet to see any data analysis or site analysis that determined that it did not make sense to consider additions to a couple of schools or other solutions assuming the additional capacity was needed to implement an all day kindergarten plan. I would support another referendum but I would start not with a referendum asking for money and additions but asking the opinions of our constituents on full day kindergarten. Do they think it would be a benefit to D15 children and property values? Do you think it should be sliding economic scale self paid or paid by D15? Required or optional? Worth ??? million dollars of recurring expense. We need better planning and data analysis to be good stewards of our taxpayers' money and ensure smart, sustainable decisions.As contract talks come up with other employee groups, do you believe the district should ask for concessions, expect costs to stay about the same, or provide increases in pay and benefits? If you are an incumbent, why did you support the 10-year teacher contract? If you are a newcomer, what's your view of the contract? Would you support similar length contracts for other employee groups? Why or why not.First of all, I think the School Board needs to have a presence at contract talks. This did not happen with the 10 year contract. There is no excuse for not having even one person from the School Board be part of the negotiating process in representation of the community, electorate and taxpayers. It is no surprise that there was a complete lack of transparency in the process and the response afterward since not one person on the current School Board was involved enough in the task to provide commentary. I believe the 10 year contract approved by the current School Board to be irresponsible. Aside from the fact that a 10 year commitment is unheard of, consideration does not seem to have been made for potential changes in the economy, the tax base, cost of benefits, etc. It also has yet to be proven that the longer term plan is actually in the best interest of our staff as doubts have been raised as to the longer term viability of compensation levels in retaining teaching staff and program assistants. Just as in our own personal economic decision making, we need to have a short term plan and a long term plan. The short term plan is committed and the long term plan is flexible to account for changes in our situation. In terms of cost increases, pay and benefits, I would expect them to be commensurate with inflation and trends in the private sector.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?I do not support tax or fee increases at this point. I believe we need to take a hard look at our expenditures in order to determine if the current situation is sensible and justifiable. I believe our arts and extracurricular programming are top notch and an important component of the education and development of our children.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?I feel strongly that the quality of our teaching staff is the main reason our District performs as well as it does with our children as the beneficiaries. Board and Administration decision making needs to err on the side of sustainability to ensure that we allocate our finite resource stream wisely and continue to be a school system which has the ability to pull in and retain the best staff thus ensuring the greatest impact on our student population. In my opinion, continuing to make decisions which support best staff, best schools creates a dynamic in the District 15 community where our parents are choosing their current schools because they are providing the best possible education for their children.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?We walk a fine line in making sure we have community and taxpayer support in funding while ensuring people do not feel taken advantage of. It is imperative that we are well aware that the stakeholder group represented by taxpayers is split between those who have children currently in D15 schools and those who don't and that we are sensitive to the opinions and needs of both groups while bringing value to same.School boundaries are sorely in need of review. I understand there is an opportunity for both a positive and negative impact in redrawing of the boundaries yet that is not a reason to ignore the issue. Transparency is something we need to establish in District 15. We need to ensure the facts are out there with no spin and decisions are made based on reality. Effort needs to be made to restore the faith and trust of the community in our School Board and D15 Administration. I'm ready to make that effort.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Kevin Piasecki - former Scoutmaster and current Assistant Scoutmaster of Palatine Troop 209. Kevin demonstrates a selfless commitment to growing up good men.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?You get what you give.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have practiced more piano. My parents paid for years and years of lessons of which I did not take the most advantage.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Reading. I was a voracious reader as a child which has helped in my success every day of my life.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Always conduct yourself in a manner that will ensure you can be proud should you wind up on the front page of the newspaper.