James Hurd: 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: GurneeWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Woodland District 50 School Board Age: 41Family: Wife and Two children that attend Woodland District 50Occupation: Stay at home DadEducation: Lehigh UniversityB.S. Electrical EngineeringCivic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers School finances seem to be a problem. What do you see as the main cause of financial difficulties and what solutions would you offer if elected?Declining enrollment is a cause of Woodland's financial difficulty. There are fewer students going to Woodland now than in years past, which reduces the funding that Woodland receives. Since the district has a fixed amount of facility and operational costs that must be paid, this reduces the amount of money that can be spent on direct educational support.The district will need to find a way to do more with less. The proposed budget reductions are a good first step to proactively address this situation before it becomes a financial crisis. However, the district should continue to look for more efficiencies. Asking all the stakeholders, teachers, parents, students, administration and staff for ways in which we could improve operations would be a good next step. The school board also should seek out new ways to promote community involvement. Establishing more opportunities for parents to volunteer and soliciting local business to help are more ways to improve our schools while being financially responsible.As you know, state funding follows Woodland students whose parents elect to send them to Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake - a longtime bone of contention. Do you see that as a problem? Please explain.I believe Illinois needs to develop a new formula for charter school funding that does not negatively impact the host districts and create unnecessary financial challenges. The current funding formula hurts both the Woodland and Freemont districts and simultaneously makes Prairie Crossing uncertain of their financial future. This situation is going to get worse as state aid declines over the next few years. The current formula leads to frustration and friction between Woodland and Prairie Crossing, which is not productive for our overall community. Ideally, the state should find additional revenues to put towards appropriately funding state created charter schools. Woodland, Freemont and Prairie Crossing all need to work together with other impacted charter schools and host districts to address this issue with their elected state representatives to enact change.With enrollment declining to 5,882 from 6,549 in 2012, per the state's report card, how to you view the district's staffing levels. Are there too many employees and what should be done? Please elaborate.The staffing levels need to reflect the number of students in the school. While having classes that are under the target student to teacher ratio is great for the students and teachers, it is not financially sustainable. It is important to work to balance staffing needs to match but not exceed the district target classroom size. The Woodland School Board does have a proposal for staff reductions that will reduce staffing and maintain the high level of education that the district offers. Hopefully most of these staff reductions can be accomplished by allowing our dedicated staff members to voluntarily retire without hiring new candidates to replace the departing staff member. After those positions are eliminated, difficult decisions will need to be made. We should support those who wish to continue educating in other districts as best we can as they transition to new opportunities.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 budgetary issues are complex in Woodland. Between reducing state aid and increasing costs it will make the budget increasingly difficult to balance. After the current budget reduction, the district should continue to look for increased efficiencies within the district and to continue to address staffing needs based on enrollment in order to cut costs. In regards to revenue, I would support a small tax increase to help offset the reduction in state funding to keep the school district financially viable and to prevent drastic reductions in services that would negatively impact students. As it is currently, the district does not always have the funding to fully support the needs of the classroom. One example is technology. I have volunteered in the classroom. I have been present when the internet is not functioning and the teacher's lesson plan has to be abruptly changed. I have seen the students shuttling computers between classrooms because there aren't enough for one reading group to have access to them at a time. These are items that people take for granted that the schools have. We need to ensure the district is funded properly so that the students are prepared for 21st century complete with wifi signals and adequate access to computers.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 Congress or the state approves broader choice among public and private schools, inevitably our community will become more fractured. Families from our districts may decide another district is a better choice for their children. People from other districts may decide our district is a better fit for their children. This will make long term planning much more difficult, as different students with different backgrounds have different needs. It will also further financially stress our school district by taking money out of the public school system. The Board of Education must respond in a way to protect the education of students in the district in order to ensure there is adequate funding to maintain a high level of education.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I would like to ask the people living in the district have you helped your schools this year. I know we all support the schools by paying our taxes, but have you reached out to see if there is anything you can do to help? We need to continue to strengthen our schools in every way possible so that more students get the excellent education Woodland can and does provide. We need to take great ideas from all the district's stakeholders and apply them whenever and wherever we have the ability to implement them. Woodland needs to be more connected to the community that it serves. I believe that we need to give local business, taxpayers, parents, staff and students more opportunities to share their skills with the schools. Working together we can continue to improve our great district.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Theo Epstein has used data to place the right people in the right positions to achieve success.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Work hard, help others and be preparedIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Candidate did not respond.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Mathematics, led me to become an Electrical EngineerIf you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Be a participant not an observer. Get involved!