Merv Roberts: 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: LincolnshireWebsite: http://www.united4stevenson.orgOffice sought: Stevenson H.S. D125Age: 70Family: Married, two childrenOccupation: Retired held management/executive positions in manufacturing and distribution at Ford, Baxter and Belle Howell. Management positions in management consulting at Arthur young and Coopers Lybrand. Research assistant and member of the faculty at HarvardEducation: BS in industrial engineering, University of Michigan 1963MBA Harvard graduate school of business administration 1965Civic involvement: Lincolnshire plan commission 1976-1981, chairman 1978-1981Illinois Association of school boards-Lake division chairman 1987-1991, executive committee 1983-2001Illinois Association of school boards, Director 1991-2001Illinois State Board Of Education standards steering committee 1995-96ISBE Burroughs award, Illinois outstanding school Board President 1996national school Board Association award for Distinguished Service to Public EducationElected offices held: Stevenson high school Board of Education 1981-2011Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 The key issue in this campaign is which candidates will be able to continue to improve the performance of Stevenson High School. Incumbents Lubin, Moons, and Roberts, have a long record of success in the improvement of all aspects of performance. Their actions based on the school's mission of ""Success For Every Student"" and the Vision statement which specifies ""continuous improvement"" have demonstrated results for more than 25 years, despite enrollment growth, changing demographics, parent expectations and economic conditions. The board is not inbred and when midterm vacancies occur, a public announcement is made to seek applicants from the community. All applicants are given interviews and wonderful talent, often from unexpected sources, emerges from the process. This process is transparent. Finally current board leadership provides value for the community's tax dollar. Stevenson has the lowest cost per student among comparable high schools in our area.Key Issue 2 Another key issue is the financial future of the district and its impact on Stevenson's ability to achieve success for all students through continuous improvement. The Illinois tax cap legislation is a complicating factor to this goal. In fact, it complicates the possibilities of taxing bodies to have balanced budgets. This is because after a referendum, the district enters a period of increasing fund balances followed by a period of declining fund balances before the next referendum. The only alternative would be an annual funding referendum which is expensive, requires diverting board and administrative resources to referenda campaigns, distracts those who are tasked with improving the program, and raises the risk of substantial cutbacks should any of those referenda fail. Therefore, financial stability equates to building and then depleting fund balances. A wise school board will plan four fund balances to approach zero (below State recommended levels) as we did before our 2002 referendum. We shared this plan with the community in 1996 six years before the actual referendum. At that time we said passage of the referendum would allow us to operate through the end of the decade before seeking another referendum. With continued planning, reducing staff to follow declining enrollment, reducing energy costs and capital spending, we now anticipate that the next referendum can be pushed back to the latter part of this decade, thereby exceeding our promise to the community. These actions have also allowed us to abate portions of the tax levy for four of the last five years during the recent period of financial stress. We are unaware of any other school district that has done so. This year the abatement will actually reduce the tax dollars to be paid by the majority of taxpayers to Stevenson High School. This is our definition of financial stability, AAA bond rating, good planning, budgeting, and reducing spending, while adapting to changing conditions. In 2001 a national firm surveyed the Stevenson community on a variety of attitudes towards the school in which they found a level of trust with the school board on financial issues was higher than they had ever seen in a school district. Our record of fiscal responsibility continues to bear that out.Key Issue 3 Another key issue is whether the future board will continue to support the mission and vision of the school, and use that as the basis for making decisions throughout the entire organization. The mission and vision is not the board's mission and vision, it is the community's. The community has participated in its development since 1983. In our last revision in 2010, over 100 members of the community participated in its development, including parents, students, faculty and staff, board members, administrators and other members of the community. Since most votes of the school board are unanimous, some critics cite that as evidence of a rubber stamp board. However, when each individual board member uses the mission and vision as a basis for making a decision, it is likely that they will reach the same conclusion before voting. Likewise, every member of the organization thinks about the mission and vision as they plan and act in their normal course of their day.Questions Answers Stevenson High has an ethnically diverse campus. Does it do enough to connect with kids from other racial or cultural backgrounds or to reach students and families who don't speak English as their primary language? If not, cite programs you'd recommend.The board and I embrace diversity of ethnicity, language, nationality, religion and numerous other factors. It is important for our students to appreciate the many differences and find ways to work together. This prepares them for an increasingly global world in which they will participate and take leadership responsibilities. We offer a number of programs for students such as clubs and activities and the World's Fair. We offer some programs for parents in their native language. Sometimes cultural differences make it difficult to effectively collaborate. We have made progress in this area, but more could be done. I am open to suggestions to improve our effectiveness in this area.Should the district pursue mergers or partnerships with other districts to save money? Provide examples.I am a fan of local control, which means small school districts. This allows the board and other school employees to connect more effectively with their local community and parents in a collaborative way. In this model however, schools must keep their organizations lean without all the titles and levels that occur in larger districts. I believe we do that at Stevenson. In addition, we work with our elementary districts in many ways to save money and share resources. Our consortium works together to leverage purchases, provide common teacher institutes, and administrator professional development and curriculum development in the subject areas. This not only saves money but also improves effectiveness.Some residents have questioned district finances and taxes homeowners pay to Stevenson. Do you agree with the way finances have been run? Please explain.Yes. We continuously do long-range financial planning, looking at fund balances, enrollment projections staffing levels, budgets and capital spending. Each year we have a public hearing for the budget and for the tax levy. Our performance has resulted in the lowest cost per student among comparable high schools in our area. We have a AAA bond rating. A 2001 survey showed a high level of community trust for the school board on financial matters. We have abated a portion of the tax levy for four of the last five years. For the last three years we have reduce staff in advance of enrollment declines based on our demographic projections. Our fund balances has allowed us to maintain the quality of the educational program despite unanticipated reductions in state aid.How involved should the board and parents be in choosing reading materials for students? Should parents be able to veto books assigned to students? Please explain.I believe that the selection of the reading should be left to the professional educators, the teachers and curriculum directors. These decisions are based on state standards and Stevenson-developed learning targets to achieve the standards. I recognize that some parents and students have issues with the reading lists. We offer alternative readings, and encourage parents and students to discuss this with their teachers. We have recently clarified these processes and improved communication with parents. We had a few parental advisory groups to several departments in the early 1980s. It proved to be counterproductive to developing a quality curriculum. We disbanded that process and researched best practices to improve the curriculum. Given the above I do not support parental veto of the booklist.The Statesman battled questions over perceived censorship. Should high-school journalists have the same First Amendment rights as professionals? Explain your opinion.We have always had prior review of the student newspaper at Stevenson. Usually, prior review does not raise concerns about student written articles. About two years ago issues did develop. While the subject matter was controversial, that was not a concern. The concerns included inadequate fact checking and quote verification and the improper use of anonymous sources. Promises of anonymity could not be kept, when descriptions of these sources allowed some readers to identify them. This could have been harmful to their well-being. This year there have been no concerns raised by prior review. The newly constituted student staff has been acting responsibly and professionally in doing their work. The quality of their work was demonstrated by winning an award for their October issue. High school students working within a curriculum-based journalism program such as Stevenson's do not have the same First Amendment rights as professional journalists in the public press. Stevenson's curriculum-based approach to the student newspaper is conducive to learning. Working within our academic environment with faculty guidance will help them learn to become great journalists should they choose to pursue a career in journalism .