Karen Havlik, 4 years: Candidate Profile

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:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: MundeleinWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Mundelein H.S. D120, 4-year termAge: 51Family: Married to my husband Paul for 28 years. Two children, Greg (23) and Alli (19), both who are in college currently.Occupation: Computer AnalystEducation: Bachelor of Science in Computer ScienceCivic involvement: In the past I have served on the boards for the Mundelin Travel Soccer Association, and AYSO. I have also served as a Girl Scout Leader and Cub Scout leader.Elected offices held: Board Member, Mundelein High School District 120 from 2005 to presentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Ensuring that MHS prepares all students for a successful future.Key Issue 2 Maintaining and enhancing the school facilities.Key Issue 3 Making MHS an integral part of the entire Mundelein community.Questions Answers How satisfied are you that your district is preparing students for the next stage in their lives, whether it be from elementary into high school or high school into college or full-time employment? What changes, if any, do you think need to be made?Our goal is to have 100% of our students prepared for post-secondary school, technical training or the military. Currently, approximately 90% of our graduates continue their education at post-secondary institutions. MHS offers a wide range of challenging courses, including honors and Advanced Placement classes that are available to any interested student. The school also offers special education services, ESL (English as a Second Language), and bilingual classes. Students may also take classes at the nearby College of Lake County, as well as at the Lake County High School's Technology campus. New programs, such as AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), are assisting students who might otherwise furthering their education, to prepare for college. I would like to see this program, as well as others expanded to ensure all of our students are ready for their future. What budget issues will the district have to confront? What measures do you support to address them? If cuts are needed, be specific about programs and expenses that should be reduced or eliminated. Do you support any tax increases for local schools?In the past, the income for District 120 increased each year due to the many new housing developments and increasing housing values. With the housing market at a standstill for the last 3 years, the district is now faced with relatively stagnant income while costs have increased. In these challenging financial times, we have been working very hard to maintain and expand our programs for our students while keeping expenses within budget. This has been done through careful review of all programs, ensuring that our resources are going into those that have the most student impact, avoiding the need to reduce or eliminate programs.Mundelein high school receives the majority of its funding from local property taxes with the remainder coming from state and federal sources. I believe that with the current state of the economy, asking taxpayers for more money is not acceptable. The referendum question that is on the ballot in April, which I strongly support, will provide MHS funding for much needed building maintenance and facilities issues without raising the tax rate for the community. Is experience as a teacher or support from a union valuable because it suggests educational insights or detrimental because it creates pro-teacher bias? Please clarify whether you have such experience or would accept union support.I am not a teacher nor have I sought union endorsement. I believe that the teachers, staff, administration and board are all team members that need to work closely together to obtain our goal of preparing our students for their futures. I would accept support from any of our staff that should choose to give it.As contract talks come up with various employee groups, what posture should the board take? Do you believe the district should ask for concessions, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?I was involved with contract negotiations for the most recent teachers' contract which runs from 2009-10 through the 2011-12 school years. Our position during these negotiations was to provide a fair and reasonable contract that reflected the economic struggle that the community and country is facing. With the changes being discussed in the House Special Committee on Educational Reform in Springfield, our next teachers' contract may be very different from those in the past. Performance based pay increases, and restructuring of pay indexes (STEP) will have an effect on future labor contracts. I believe our goal in all contract negotiations should be to maintain costs while maintaining our current staffing level.If your district had a superintendent or other administrator nearing retirement, would you support a substantial increase in his or her pay to help boost pension benefits? Why or why not?I do not feel that a school district should award pay increases just to boost pension benefits for the retiring administrator. A salary increase should always be based upon the performance of the administrator against the goals and objectives set by the Board of Education.