District 203 candidates debate transparency in board actions
No matter which races you're following this election cycle, the word “transparency” has likely been used repeatedly.
The five candidates seeking the three open seats on the Naperville Unit District 203 Board of Education discussed what transparency means to them and how transparent they believe the current board is during a Thursday night forum hosted by the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation.
Board President Mike Jaensch, who is seeking his second four-year term, said he's proud of the steps the board has made to improve transparency.
“Transparency is making sure every dollar spent and every decision on every dollar spent is available to the public and I believe we do that fairly clearly,” Jaensch said. “The BoardDocs (software) is an excellent resource and you can go back three years and every meeting you will see every penny is in there. Every bid is in there. Who won the bid and for what reason is in there. The budget and monthly reports on investments are all in there.”
Challenger and Lisle resident Jay Fisher, who is seeking his first term, agrees the district has made strides. But he said they're not quite there yet.
“Transparency means that citizens of the district can go to the website and find out all of the information about the finances and workings of the district,” Fisher said. “Currently the district has collective bargaining agreements on the website but when I went there about a month ago it still had the last collective bargaining agreement, but I was there today and it has been updated to the current one. There's also a drive to put the checkbook online to see all the finances and where the money is being spent.”
Incumbent Terry Fielden, who is also seeking his second term, says the information is available if citizens make an effort.
“I think we are pretty transparent in the way we conduct our business. We take all of our votes in the open and the checkbook is available,” Fielden said. “You can ask to request a meeting with (District Finance Manager) Dave Zager and (Superintendent) Dr. (Mark) Mitrovich to review the finances and see where the money goes.”
Incumbent Suzyn Price, who is seeking a third term, said she “concurs” with Jaensch, Fisher and Fielden, but said she thinks transparency is also an issue at the school level.
“Are our parents able to interact with the schools? We have a new (software) system that we're unveiling where parents can really get real-time information. So one of the things that's important to families is can they get the information that their students need for their learning?”
Price urged patience from those seeking to get their information from the district's webpage.
“We don't hire Web people. Getting these things up is time-consuming and we don't have people dedicated to it so patience is appreciated, but we do really work to get it on there.”
Bethany Weeks, a challenger and daughter of board member Dave Weeks, said the board has it all wrong.
“To me, transparency means openness with the community and being upfront with them about what is being done and why,” she said. “There is an incredible lack of transparency on this current board. A lot of discussions take place behind closed doors or in subcommittees.”
The general election will be held Tuesday, April 5.