Denton Morris: 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: St. CharlesWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: St. Charles Unit District 303 School Board Age: 52Family: Wife: Jae MorrisSon: Kyle MorrisOccupation: Engineering Physicist, Fermi National Accelerator LabEducation: B.S. PhysicsM.B.A.Civic involvement: Assistant coach, STORM Bitty Boys Basketball.Member of Dupage River Fly Tiers, working with Project Healing Waters, Boy Scouts and local schools.Elected offices held: NoneQuestions Answers Do you support the closure of Haines Middle School? If so, what should be done with the Haines campus once it is closed?Our middle schools should have been addressed 10 years ago. The current plan provides the best solution with the least impact to the community and manageable impact on students for a short time. The Haines campus should be reclaimed as Haines Field, for athletics and general use.District officials expect the student population in the district will continue to decline in coming years. Do you believe that projection is accurate? If not, why? If so, would you support the closure of any other district schools, as was contemplated last year?The projection is not accurate. The study the administration paid for showed slight growth. Other studies show both growth and new housing starts. Closing an elementary school now would mean spending money we don't have in 10 years to build a replacement. Saving $10 million over 10 years -- and then later spending $40 million for a new school -- makes no sense.Jason Pearson was selected as the next superintendent to replace Don Schlomann. What are your top goals for Mr. Pearson?I would like to see Dr. Pearson develop a 5-year strategic plan for the district that addresses middle school changes, staffing and utilization of resources and projected financial outlooks, so the district can avoid reactionary moves and provide a more stable learning environment for the community.In recent years, school board members have crafted the budget with guideline of limiting annual property tax levy increases to 2 percent or less. Can/should that guideline remain in place?That guideline is working very well. We have the lowest school tax rate in the county and very highly-rated schools. The district should strive to maintain that criteria.Do you support the current plan to borrow money to replace the athletic field at St. Charles North High School with synthetic turf? Do you support a related plan to borrow money to remodel the Norris Recreation Center?I don't have enough information regarding these issues to make an informed decision at this time. Is the current field unsafe? How do the annual maintenance costs compare to traditional fields? How will the district fund replacing the synthetic turf every ten years? Why isn't the original contractor correcting ongoing field problems? What are the alternatives?What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Candidate did not respond.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.I'm inspired by leaders who can provide environments where others can excel. Leaders like Richard Branson and Maria Klawe come to mind.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Respect people. We're all different and have taken different paths through life, and each has their own talents and experiences to contribute.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I don't use "do-overs" I live and learn by my mistakes and hopefully they make me a better person.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I always enjoyed history classes. You can better plan for the future when you know the history of how you ended up where you are.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Learn how to respect people for who they are.