Kelly B. Nowak: 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: GenevaWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Geneva Unit D304Age: 45Family: I have been married for nearly 19 years. My three daughters attend Willimsburg Elementary School, Geneva Middle School South and Geneva High School.Occupation: I am a former bank Vice President with a background in middle market commercial lending and corporate treasury management. I am a former Certified Cash Manager. I left the financial field to raise my daughters and to volunteer in the Geneva community.Education: I graduated from Iowa State University with a BBA in Finance in 1988.Civic involvement: I have served on the boards and executive boards of several local organizations, and regulary volunteer within the Geneva community. My current volunteer activities include:Geneva C.U.S.D. Board of Education (Policy Committee Chair)Illinois Association of School Boards (Kiswaukee Division Vice Chairman)The Geneva History Center (Fundraising Committee)The United Methodist Church of Geneva (Missions Committee)Geneva High School PTO (Volunteer)Geneva Middle School South PTO (Welcoming Committee Chair)Williamsburg Elementary School PTO (Fine Arts/Junior Great Books Volunteer)Geneva Beautification Committee (Volunteer)The Geneva Chamber of Commerce (Festival Volunteer)My past volunteer experience includes the following:Coultrap Elementary School PTO (President)Geneva Middle School PTO (Secretary)Tri-City Salvation Army Advisory Board (Chairman)Geneva Academic Foundation (Secretary)Geneva Music Boosters (School Representative)The Geneva Library Foundation (Board Member)The Mother's Club of Geneva (Honorary Member)Girl Scouts (Troop Leader)In 2005, I was nominated for a Hometown Hero Award for Community Impact.Elected offices held: Geneva C.U.S.D. Board of Education (2007-Present)Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 My first priority as a member of the Geneva School Board will be to ensure the continuing educational excellence of our School District. We are fortunate to live in a community that has consistently focused its energies on providing our students with a comprehensive educational experience. Our curriculum challenges our students to excel academically, while incorporating opportunities to develop their talents in the applied and performing arts. Through the Fox Valley Career Center, students participate in unique, hands-on learning experiences that provide a solid foundation for success in a number of vocational areas. Dozens of extracurricular clubs and teams further the District's goal of educating the whole student, engaging them in activities that promote their social, emotional and physical well-being. We have so much to be proud of, and our students regularly exceed our expectations. But our future success will require an ongoing process of review and sometimes outright revision. Using student data to refine our teaching methodologies, adopting new intervention programs to help all of our students succeed, and expanding our course of study to better engage and challenge our students may be necessary to ensure that the educational experience we provide continues to be relevant. As our society changes, and the career options for this generation continue to evolve, we will need to adapt our programs to prepare our students for a world that may demand knowledge and skills that are as yet unidentified! As a veteran Board member who has demonstrated a strong focus on the needs of our students, and has gained experience working successfully with many members of our school community, I hope to actively participate in refining our programs to meet the individual needs of each of our students, and to promote any necessary changes to ensure they are acquiring the relevant knowledge and skills to make them ""life ready.""Key Issue 2 My second priority as a member of the Geneva School Board is sound financial management. While my primary focus will always be on what is in the best interests of the students we serve and a continuing commitment to Geneva's educational excellence, I believe it is impossible to separate our programming decisions and school improvement initiatives from ensuring the District's financial well-being and fiscally responsible decision-making. To that end, it is imperative that the decisions we make in the near term reflect the realities of the current difficult economy, even as we seek to provide future generations of Geneva students and taxpayers with a secure financial foundation to sustain our educational quality through the next economic downturn. The Board must be responsible to all taxpayers, current and future, and commit to carefully evaluating both the immediate impacts of our financial decisions and the long-term effect of those choices on our ability to continue our tradition of excellence. I believe that, at the present time, many of the most pressing financial issues faced by the District are closely tied to the current state of education funding in Illinois. Significant reductions in the the funding of categorical grants, and the inability of the state to make scheduled payments to local districts have compromised the ability of local districts to meet their own obligations in a timely manner. We must continue to look for new sources of revenue, identify efficiencies that will enable us to contain our expenses, and continue to use our reserves wisely to meet our day-to-day obligations. Key Issue 3 Finally, my third priority as a member of the Geneva School Board is to make sure we engage the community in thoughtful discussion about the many challenges and opportunities that face our District. Having an ongoing dialogue with the public is essential to the Board making decisions that reflect the collective will of the entire community. To ensure that our conversations are meaningful, I believe that we as a Board must step up our efforts to share information and to raise awareness of the many operating constraints we encounter in the management of our School District. Supplementing the current public forums might be a series of seminars related to topics such as Illinois School Finance, Employment Law or Policy Development. Such seminars would enhance the larger community's understanding of the many issues facing the Board of Education and the context for decision-making; give us a common vocabulary for fruitful dialogue; promote more meaningful participation; and foster a more collaborative environment in our 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?Generally speaking, I have been extremely satisfied with the multitude of ways in which our District prepares students for transitioning into the next stage of their lives. While no one indicator can or should act as the sole measure of whether our program is working, a combination of these metrics would tend to support the assertion that Geneva is successfully preparing our students for transitions ranging from elementary school through college/full-time employment. Our District has implemented several initiatives in recent years that are clearly aimed at managing these transitions, and ensuring that students will successfully meet new challenges. One such new program is a Study Skills course at the high school. Students in both the 8th and 9th grades now take the EXPLORE test, and the data is used to identify incoming freshmen who may benefit from extra support in the areas of time management and study habits. These students receive personalized instruction in the strategies required to ensure their successful transition to high school. At the middle-school level, the introduction of the reading and math labs, and an intensive summer reading camp, have enabled students to master the basic skills necessary for their continued academic success . At the high-school level, the extensive programming offered by the Guidance Office creates opportunities for students to explore career options, identify appropriate college programs, and even network with recent graduates to receive insight into the challenges inherent in leaving home and gaining a fuller measure of independence. 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?Our District, like many, is facing the significant challenge of maintaining the level of programming provided to our students even as the revenues required to support those programs have been significantly reduced, and the timing of receiving even partial state funding has become increasingly unpredictable. For the past two years, the Board has closely evaluated our educational programming, carefully analyzing each area of our operations to identify opportunities to reduce expenditures. With critical input from staff at all levels, and with guidance from the community to prioritize options for spending reduction, significant savings have been identified and realized. Operating budgets have been reduced by approximately $5.6 million dollars and current spending is is below 2007 levels. Additionally, the Board has been actively monitoring interest rates, and has seized opportunities to reduce long-term debt, saving taxpayers in excess of $750,000 over the life of our outstanding bonds. Economic realities mean that targeted reductions will continue, but always with an eye towards minimizing the impact on student learning. In addition to ongoing efforts to contain and reduce expenditures, the Board will make greater use of the District's reserves, drawing upon resources that have been strategically accumulated over the course of the past several years to help ensure that the excellence of our educational environment and our achievement levels will not change. I fully support the targeted use of the aforementioned reserve funds, provided our total fund balances do not fall below the 30% threshold identified in Board policy. Going forward, we need to always be mindful of the lessons learned from this recession. As we renegotiate contracts with our staff, we need to ask for and be willing to accept compromises in the short-term that will, over time, ensure the long-term viability of our programs. Our District will need to pursue strategic partnerships with others, and expand our participation in consortiums. We have worked diligently during the past year to identify alternative sources of revenue, and we will continue to pursue and secure grant dollars to fund special projects and specific budget line items. Even as the economy improves, we cannot ever become complacent. We are fortunate that given our District's comparative financial strength, multiyear financial projections do not indicate the need for a tax increase in the near future. As such, I do not support any increase to the Education Fund rate at this time.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.The strength of a given School Board arguably resides in each member bringing to the table specific areas of expertise, and unique personal experiences. The diversity of such a knowledge base then serves to inform nearly every decision made by the Board. Teaching experience may be valuable insofar as it provides the Board with an opportunity, albeit limited, to explore best practices, or enhances our collective insight. However, a much more global perspective is necessary to make sound decisions. The subject of teachers' unions has prompted much discussion of late. My experience is limited to the local GEA, and that experience has thus far been exceptionally collaborative and constructive. I respect our professional staff, and have been fortunate to work closely with many of our teachers throughout the District in my capacity as a parent, a PTO President and a Board member. That notwithstanding, Board members are elected to represent the best interests of our students and the entire Geneva community. We must endeavor to serve without bias, and as members of a team, hold one another accountable for making objective decisions, particularly during the course of contract negotiations. While none of us is immune to bias or the perception thereof, the role of a Board member demands setting aside personal bias to ensure that decisions are made on the basis of facts, not presumptions, and solid analysis. As I have previously stated, I have not sought the endorsement of any special interest group or local union. Nor will I, as it runs contrary to my understanding of this office. I believe I have consistently demonstrated my commitment to repectful dialogue and representing the best interests of our entire community.Beyond limited experiences training fellow professionals in the financial services industry, I have no classroom teaching experience.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 believe that the Administration and the Board need to engage in candid dialogue with our various employee groups to identify issues well in advance of any formal negotiations, in an effort to minimize the possibility of widely disparate positions when we arrive at the negotiating table. It is clear that the difficult economic environment will continue to challenge us for the foreseeable future. The final agreement may need to include concessions from both parties. Already, several classes of employees have experienced pay freezes and/or reduced benefits; at most, some have received nominal annual increases. In working through both the monetary and nonmonetary issues surrounding contract negotiations, we have always tried to ensure that our agreements are in the long-term best interests of our employees and the Geneva community.I believe we all share a responsiblity to respond to the financial challenges before us, and that we need to agree to work within the limitations that have been imposed on us by this economy. It is not unreasonable to ask our employee groups for concessions. However, it would be inappropriate for me, as an individual member of a larger Board, to preemptively draw a line in the sand and offer specifics as to what concessions the Board may expect from our negotiations. At present, the state legislature is discussing a number of initiatives aimed at producing educational reform. As these measures become more clearly articulated, or are signed into law, they will have a direct bearing on our discussions.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?As our superintendent or other administrators near retirement, I do not support substantial increases in pay during their final years with the District for the purpose of boosting their pension benefits. Although this practice is common in the current environment, the perception that it is an abuse of the system exists and has a measure of validity. I feel more straightforward methods of rewarding performance are available that do not further these negative perceptions. The state legislature continues to address the issue of pension reform, and as those discussions evolve, I hope the result will be a more streamlined system that rewards employees fairly, while eliminating the potential for abuse that exists within the current structure.