Mary L. Stith: 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: http://Facebook page: Mary Stith School BoardOffice sought: Geneva Unit D304Age: 55Family: Husband Herb 4 childrenOccupation: Retired NurseEducation: BSN Michigan State UniversityMN Louisiana State UniversityCivic involvement: School Board: 2003-2011 President: 2007-2011RCIA sponsor/General Volunteer St. Peter Parish (former CCD/Confirmation leader)Director at Large: IASB (Illinois Association of School Boards, Kishwaukee DivisionSteering Committee: PRIDE (Retired School Volunteer Program)Master Board Member Status- IASB since 2006Geneva Music Boosters BoardGHS PTO BoardMember Geneva All Sports BoostersMember Geneva History CenterPast Chair Geneva Academic FoundationPast President GHS PTOBoard Liaison - Geneva Coalition for YouthElected offices held: Geneva CUSD 304 Board of Education, 2003-2011Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Balancing Fiscal Responsibility with Continued Academic Growth for all students. I emphasize BALANCE as that is truly the key for me. Times are tough everywhere, with a slow economic recovery ongoing. The Board needs to continue to reduce costs where they control, contain other costs placed upon us, identify savings, and look for additional sources of revenue that provide some measure of relief to taxpayers. At the same time, if we talk only of this and lose site of what our mission as a school district is, preparing all students for the future, we will hurt not only the students, but ultimately the community as well. There are no easy or obvious solutions, as some think, yet I agree that continued focus fiscal responsibility is essential. I came into service on the school board with minimal experience or understanding of school finance, state mandates, pension systems, curriculum, education research, and a plethora of other issues that impact our students and our taxpayers. However, I have spent the last eight years studying, attending training, and listening to those at the local, state, and national level regarding these issues. I have had to make the budget cuts, redistrict our students, create policy, approve new educational initiatives, cut programs, and eliminate staff. I believe this experience is an asset to the School Board going forward, particularly as we are looking at the future implementation of needed pension and education reform at the state level, and equally important, dealing with the diverse academic and social emotional needs our students now have. I am proud of the increased academic success of our students which has occurred over the past eight years, as well as the fact that this was done while making cuts and implementing greater operational efficiencies. Key Issue 2 Ensuring Success for All Students. Our students range from special needs to gifted and every place in between. We have grown into a large school district who is in the midst of expanding diversity. While I am grateful that this will bring so many more global experiences to all of our students, it places many challenges on a District to reach each student where they are at, to prepare them for success in life. These are no longer the days of old where everyone learned the same thing and was taught in the same manner. When I first came on the Board, we had few Title I students here, we did not have the need for bilingual classrooms, and we certainly did not have the many additional mandates for education, such as Response to Intervention, and the newly mandated Common Core Standards. While Board Members are not the primary educators, they are the people responsible for setting the policies that our Superintendent will use to guide staff and students. This requires that Board Members, new or old, are committed to educating themselves on the issues. I have done this since the beginning and will continue to do so. I am proud that the Board has placed emphasis on data driven strategies and that the administration has responded by enhancing staff development that addresses the diverse needs of our students. Our increasing success is due to the team effort of a Board, Administration, and staff all focused on children and to the parents and citizens who have supported us in this effort. Listening to all stakeholders in these times is especially critical. Unlike some districts, our administration welcomes the Board into the school buildings and thus we are able to see the students, know the staff, and understand the infrastructure needs of our buildings. As Board President, I have emphasized to the Board that I consider this listening presence at school and community events as part of our elected obligation and only second in importance to the work we do at the Board table. I try to lead by example. Key Issue 3 Reducing long term debt. The student population of the Geneva Schools has tripled since 1985. This necessitated the addition of 6 new school buildings and enhancements to all current buildings, all approved by residents through referendum. Funding for these was planned so that bond payments would be spread over the long term. This allowed the school district to keep the bond rate relatively constant for taxpayers from year to year and further ensured that future students' families and newcomers to Geneva would share the cost of the buildings. At this point however, growth has stabilized, and the next responsible thing to do is to increase the focus on reducing this debt. This will eventually yield relief for taxpayers in terms of the Bond and Interest tax rate. The Board has already been involved in this process for the last two years, approving a bond refunding plan with our Bond Advisors, which has already yielded cost savings. Future debt reduction will necessitate more agressive, but responsible use of our reserves as well as skilled management of our bond portfolio. 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?As a Geneva resident for the last 23 years, I have grown increasingly satisfied that our students are prepared for the next stage of their lives, whether mid way in their schooling or off to college, trade schools, or employment, but there is always room for improvement particularly for those students in the middle of the ability spectrum. Having been a parent in the schools, I have seen first-hand the progress that has been achieved in terms of transition. Part of the credit goes to greater articulation of staff between levels. Much has been the result of feedback from staff and parents. Identifying our ""at- risk"" students and putting greater emphasis on reading labs and study hall assistance, as well as summer work would be examples. The Study Skills course at GHS led this movement. We have continued to refine our gifted program, adapting to budget constraints, to ensure that the progam remains and improves, something which a number of other districts have not been able to do. While we have done much for transition, particularly with our at risk students, I believe that there is much more that we can do in regards to the successful transition to high school for all students. Our administrators and GHS staff are now exploring other successful programs in the Chicago area and are instituting more measures to improve the learning environment. One example is the implementation of homerooms for students that they will progress throughout high school with and the purchase of Naviance software for GHS, a gift from the Geneva Academic Foundation. I also believe that the district needs to objectively track and seek feedback from those who have graduated to measure our true success at ""preparing students for the future"". While there have been attempts at tracking, the logistics are challenging. The Board has had these discussions with the Administration and they share our commitment to working on this issue. If re-elected, I look forward to pushing this initiative further. If done correctly, this can be the truest measure of our success and provide great input for planning. The future success of our students is a passion for me and I believe our community is committed to this as well.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?As stated previously, reducing the budget without detracting from our academic delivery is in the forefront of what all districts must confront. This is not new and has been ongoing since my time on the Board. The District began with budget reductions, program cuts, and reduction of staff 8 years ago. This has led to improved financial status and healthy reserves, which has generated greater savings for us. What is new is the loss of payment from the state, increased mandates, and continued increases in benefit and operational costs despite a sluggish economy. Cost containment has to happen in terms of salaries, and benefits, across the board, but not just in one category of employee. As an incumbant, I have joined the other Board Members in putting this first as we move through each employee group for negotiations. Salary containment is essential and many groups have taken a freeze as their contracts come due. I applaud these employees for recognizing the need and working with us on these issues. I support continuing to look for cuts and efficiencies of operations. In terms of supply reductions at the building level, we are approaching the lowest we can go. We will need to look for cost reductions by implementing further energy saving initiatives, as well as continuing a cost analysis process in the determination of service providers. I emphasize again though, that any reductions will need to be carefully measured in terms of impact on the educational environment and services to students. I support further utilization of reserves to reduce our long term debt through a well defined plan that occurs in stages, not a one- time slicing of reserves. That would put us right back where we started 8 years ago. Our revenue sources remain uncertain at this time, and protection of adequate reserves to maintain educational quality is important. At the same time, well planned and gradual reductions in our Bond and Interest Fund, which I support, should result in reduced tax rates over a period of time as well. I do not support particular program cuts at this time, having already eliminated a number of these previously. Rather, we need to focus on efficiencies in program delivery, utilization of grant funding, and exploration of other sources to fund for academic and extracurricular programs. Program expansion has been on hold for a number of years. I am grateful for staff that have creatively implemented enhancements to our programs with little cost, but I fear that there is not much more to be done and ultimately we wil not honor our mission of success for all without expanding our programs to meet today's needs. Any enhancements in the future will need to be scrutinized from a cost/benefit approach. No one supports tax increases for schools at this time, or at any time. However, I do not believe in ""absolute"" campaign promises as I have yet to see these materialize. Our goal as a board has been to reduce and balance our budget. We have asked for and received concessions from our employees in terms of salary and benefits and yet the costs for health care, insurance, and pensions continue to increase. I am proud that previous financial decisions have created a financial picture and reserves that have extended the need for increasing Education Fund taxes for a number of years. I did, however, support the recent tax levy increase because, I believe strongly in capturing the taxes from new construction growth. Had we not increased the levy to allow us to collect these monies, those funds would be lost, which I believe does not serve our current taxpayers. Everyone needs to contribute. Those who call for zero increase in a levy are asking us to forego those funds. Further, should that growth not occur, the tax extension will be adjusted accordingly by the county. I realize that there are other variables which play into the tax levy amount and cause increases, such as our bond payments and operational costs exceeding inflation. These are being minimized where possible as well. In my time on the Board, I have never seen the tax extension reach the proposed levy amount. Our levy requests in the past two years of economic downturn have been the lowest that the Board has asked for, since before I came on the Board. 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 believe that a board member's experience as a teacher can be very beneficial on the School Board. However, the Board should reflect the makeup of the entire community and best serves that community having members with varied careers and experiences. I believe this balance prevents biases toward one side or another and lends itself to a more balanced discussion and decision. I come from a health service background, not education which I believe has also been of benefit at times on the Board. As Board Members, we all need to understand that in sharing our particular talents and experiences, we reach better decisions; in micromanaging from our experiences, we do not. I do not believe that support from unions, or special interest groups, should even be in the picture with the School Board. Unlike other elected positions, school board elections are non partisan. This should follow with unions and special interest groups. While we may campaign on certain issues, we are elected to represent everyone and beginning our service aligned with any particular group is a disservice to the diversity of opinions within our community. That being said, I do care to hear what these groups have to say and do reflect on their positions, particularly because the majority of these groups, as well as the GEA, are residents of the community which I serve. One cannot function in public service in this day and time without being educated and aware of organized groups and their platforms.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 have been involved with numerous negotiation processes since being on the Board. In that time, the Board has always taken the posture of cost containment, the importance of such having grown every year. Our Board has utilized Interest Based Bargaining for many years. This allows both sides the time to lay out their wishes/concerns first, to try to understand each other's perspective, and then to give and take till we reach a compromise. This always involves concessions, both financial and in conditions of employment. The Board has always put those forth and I support this approach. We have been fortunate that our negotiations with the Geneva Education Association and other employee groups are handled in this matter. It's important to note that our certified staff made a number of concessions in past contracts, such as increased health deductibles, decreased tuition reimbursement etc. that have saved the District money yet got little attention. The Geneva Board also requested a detailed Comparative Salary and Benefit Analysis of surrounding districts to ensure that reimbursement practices were responsible to the community. These are on the District website and speak favorably as to how we've controlled costs. As president of the Board, I also worked with other Board Members to ensure that all took an active part in the negotiation process, something which in the past was mainly a duty of the President and VP. This has been received positively by both sides and we are now involving all members of the Board in the direct negotiation process with our other employee groups. I can report that in these discussions, both sides understand the need to contain costs. In a perfect world, expecting costs to stay the same would be great, but the reality is that the cost of benefits and mandates has really placed a great burden on districts, even after eliminating salary increases and asking for concessions. This is something all of us deal with in our personal finances as well. With future negotiations, the goal should be to control the costs we have control over (salaries) and minimize those that are placed upon us (benefits and pensions), by negotiating concessions, keeping any cost increases at a minimum, yet being fair to employees who serve us well. 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?No, I would not support this. The obvious reason for this is that the district, our community, and Illinois cannot afford this. I am happy that the state has also addressed this by setting limits on salary increases in the last 4 years of emplayment. Local School Boards did not create our current benefit and pension system. That being said, we have the responsibility to hold the line on these types of practices. More assistance at the state level is needed to eliminate this across the board. Probable future state legislation will further help to place districts on the same playing field in regards to retiring practices which can greatly expedite the contract process.