District 59 candidates debate spending, new administration building

Elk Grove Township District 59 school board candidates debated spending decisions amid looming cuts to state funding in an interview this month with the Daily Herald editorial board.

Five candidates are seeking four 4-year terms on the school board: incumbents Janice Krinsky, Sharon Roberts, Karen Osmanski and Mardell Schumacher and challenger Gary Ofisher. The candidates disagreed on plans for a $13.5 million administration building and whether the district should expand early childhood education programs.

Last fall, the school board approved selling its administration center and neighboring property for $5 million. At the same time, costs for the proposed administration building at 999 Leicester Road in Elk Grove Village had climbed 25 percent. The school board has since trimmed the project to $13.6 million after estimates reached about $18 million.

The building will include a commissary to prepare school meals, which should save money in the long term.

Schumacher, a retired teacher, said the district could have pared back more of the project.

"I was looking for a way to take away the Taj Mahal view of this building, which I thought it was becoming with all the glass and the extra things," Schumacher said.

Ofisher, director of operations at Keeneyville Elementary District 20, argued his experience would be valuable in questioning the administration. He said the money would be better used on a facility for students, such as a performing arts center.

"If I was on the board, I would've challenged the administration on a lot of the assumptions because the buildings for the kids are the primary objective for any district," Ofisher said.

Krinsky, the board vice president, and Osmanski, the board's secretary, said the new administration building is necessary and the district removed parts of the project to cut costs.

"I don't think any of us were very comfortable when the numbers came in," Osmanski said. "We put heads together to bring the number down. It's purposeful in design to help the staff do the best job that they can do."

Roberts, the lone board member to vote against selling the administration building, applauded the board for scaling back the project.

While all the candidates agreed early childhood development is essential, especially for English-language learners and students from low-income families, the candidates differed on how far to expand programs before children enter kindergarten.

Krinsky, who has degrees in psychology and child development, proposed collaborating with area agencies to seek grant funding and develop programs for families and children from birth to age 8.

Osmanski and Roberts agreed, arguing that reaching kids at a younger age can save education costs in the long term. Research has shown every $1 spent on children from birth to age 3 can save $8 to $13 later in their education, they said.

"The earlier we can provide the children and the family with what they need, the outcome is going to be much stronger," Osmanski said.

Schumacher and Ofisher agreed preschool education is important, but both argued the district should be wary of adding costs amid the state's budget problems.

"When you give parents rising expectations that you're going to afford this, it's very precarious," Ofisher said.

Schumacher questioned whether the district should continue adding more programs.

"I don't know that it's the job of a school district and its taxpayers to take care of babies from the time they are born," Schumacher said.