Penelope "Penny" Kazmier: Candidate Profile

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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:BioQA Bio City: South BarringtonWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Barrington Unit District 220 School Board Age: 52Family: Married with four children.Occupation: ColumnistEducation: Candidate did not respond.Civic involvement: "circ;cent; District 220 School Board Member, Vice President"circ;cent; Chairperson B220 PTO Presidents' Council"circ;cent; Vice Chairperson - Barrington 220 Educational Foundation "circ;cent; Chairperson, "Protect Our Investment In Education" referendum committee"circ;cent; B220 Advisory Committees: MS Focus Group, Community Leaders, B220 Strategic Plan, Grove Avenue and BMS-Prairie: School Improvement Teams"circ;cent; Citizens Alliance 220"circ;cent; St. Michael's Episcopal Church: Vestry Member,Co-Chairperson: Capital Fundraising and Annual Stewardship Campaigns"circ;cent; Little Angels Christian Preschool: Board Member"circ;cent; Rose PTO: President, VP"circ;cent; BMS-Prairie PTO: Vice President"circ;cent; Grove PTO: VP, Secretary, Carnival Co-Chairperson"circ;cent; BHS PTO: Newsletter editor, School Board RepresentativeElected offices held: Barrington 220 School Board Member since 2005, Vice President since 2007.Current member of Facilities Committee and Safety Security Committee. Former member of Policy, Enrollment Monitoring, and Input 220 committees.Board of Education rep to Barrington 220 Educational Foundation, Barrington PTO Presidents' Council, and Barrington LEADSQuestions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?I am running for re-election to the Barrington 220 school district and believe my experience will be necessary in order to navigate future budget challenges, facility decisions and policy adoptions. As a school board member since 2005, I have been a strong supporter of maintaining a balanced budget and have made the tough decision to release teachers and reduce programs in order to accomplish this end. In addition, I was part of the board that adopted a policy requiring the district to maintain a fiscally responsible fund balance of at least 25%, as well as a related policy needed to ensure the district's strong financial rating. I am proud of the accomplishments and progress Barrington 220 has made during my twelve-year tenure on the board, but there is still work to do. In January of 2017, Barrington 220 launched a holistic master planning process (Blueprint 220) that will measure, validate, quantify and qualify opportunities to align Barrington 220's school facilities to our vision for teaching learning. As a ten-year member of the Facilities Committee and my involvement with annual summer maintenance projects, the building of the BHS stadium and Early Learning Center, I believe my participation to be invaluable to this process and have already been established as part of the "Core" committee. I look forward to working with the community, staff and architects to determine the future of Barrington 220 facilities.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?I believe Barrington 220 does a good job of triangulating assessment data in order to measure and meet the educational needs of its students. The district uses a variety of assessment tools, such as MAPs, AIMSWEB, and Writing Pathways to help determine the academic progress of students. MAPs (Measures of Academic Progress) is used to determine the academic progress and needs of an individual student allowing their teacher(s) to meet their educational needs at the exact level required, as well as identify needs for intervention. In addition, AIMSWEB addresses reading indicators such as fluency, comprehension and vocabulary while Writing Pathways helps a teacher establish writing and reading inventories for each student. Tools such as these, along with classroom assessment and standardized tests, help the district measure the academic needs and success of an individual student, as well as evaluate the quality and effectiveness of curriculum and staff with success and accuracy. While there is always room for improvement, I believe Barrington 220 has a good structure in place to ensure the academic needs of each student and measured and met on a regular basis.How big a role do you think the board of education should play in setting the curriculum for students and what ideas do you have for changes to the current curriculum?The role of the school board is to set academic goals and expectations for the district, but it is the role of the superintendent and his/her staff to determine the curriculum required in order to achieve those goals. Once curriculum and staffing needs have been determined, the board then has the choice/responsibility of prioritizing funding to meet these needs. I support continuing to develop curriculum in order to expand blended learning opportunities in Barrington 220. Early efforts have shown success in a variety of subjects including math and physical education for students interested in participating. I also support exploring changes needed in curriculum in order to provide dual credit (high school/college) opportunities.What budget issues will your district have to confront and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax or fee increases?In my twelve years on the Barrington 220 school board, the board has had to navigate low CPI, reduction in state funding and unpaid mandates. In spite of these challenges, Barrington 220 has maintained a balanced budget and achieved a strong AAA Standard Poor's bond rating. This has not been easy and unfortunately, I expect budgeting challenges will continue. The possibility of the state of Illinois shifting pension responsibility to local school districts, along with the possibility of a property tax freeze and changes in state funding, are sure to present challenges for future school boards. The board has a history of looking carefully at how the annual budget impacts the district's fund balance over a five-year period and is careful to make adjustments on an annual basis. During my time on the board I have supported more than $ 7.5 million dollars in budget reductions in order to achieve a balanced budget. When faced with a budget shortfall a board must look at all contributing factors including programs, employment contracts and capital expenditures, as simply "cutting" a specific program is not always the answer. The impact of change in any area to the education of students must always be considered.The board has typically increased student fees only when absolutely necessary and I support continuing this practice. At this time, I am not aware of the need for a tax increase.What role can and should school choice play in your district? If Congress or the state approves a voucher system or other means giving students broader choices among public and private schools, how will that affect your district? What is the appropriate response for the board of education of a public school system?I believe a school district has the responsibility to meet the needs of every student. In Barrington 220, we are fortunate to have strong curricula and programs to meet the needs of students whether they require additional support or academic challenge. If a student has needs not met within the district our expert staff review the individual educational needs of the student and explore all placement options in order to find the right academic environment for that student. I respect and understand why in some communities school choice and vouchers may be necessary, but I believe Barrington 220 provides a high quality respected educational program with significant breadth and depth to meet the needs of our students.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Prior to serving as a board member I was the Projects Chairperson of the Barrington 220 Educational Foundation where I helped to develop the concept of having a television/video production studio at Barrington High School. Through a successful partnership with the foundation BHS TV was established and is now an incredibly successful program serving our students and community. This is just one example of how the district has partnered with a community organization to benefit students. As part of the Facilities Committee I worked closely with the "Friends of the Stadium", a community group formed to help raise funds to provide enhancements to what would be the new high school stadium funded through voter approved referenda dollars. Thanks to this partnership the stadium has a synthetic turf field, expanded concession stands, indoor restrooms and a video scoreboard. None of these improvements would have been possible without this partnership.As we look at the future of our curriculum and facilities I believe it is important to foster these types of partnerships in order to best serve our students and community at large.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Caroline KennedyWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Treat others the way you want to be treated, with kindness and respect.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I wouldn't take the time I had with my parents for granted.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Band: I learned each instrument is important, but all were needed in order to make good music, not unlike working together toward a common goal.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Same as above: Treat others the way you want to be treated, with kindness and respect.