Michael Jandes: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Michael Jandes

City: Round Lake

Office Sought: Fremont School District 79 board member

Age: 42

Family: Wife, Artemisa; daughter, Natalia, 11; Violet, 9.

Occupation: Software Developer

Education: Northern Illinois University, Graduated 1999, Bachelor of Science

Major: Computer Science

Civic Involvement: Mundelein Baseball & Softball Association coach, 2013 - present; Assistant Vice President of Softball Operations, 2017 - present

Previous elected offices held: District 79 board member since 2013

Incumbent: Yes, 2013

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jandii

Issue questions

What are the most important issues facing your district?

As with most districts in the state of Illinois, the financial situation of the state is our biggest potential issue followed closely by the emotional well-being of our students in today's society. While we have outstanding district level curriculum and programs in place for our students, we must continue to have an active voice at the state level. My voice as a representative for our district as an Illinois Association of School Boards delegate will make sure Fremont SD 79 will be heard.

How satisfied are you that your school district is adequately 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?

There are multiple instances at Fremont 79 where we have an opportunity to prepare the students for the next stage in their lives. We have social/emotional programs in place for all students, starting in kindergarten and continuing through 8th grade. Since Fremont is a campus-based school district, we have a unique opportunity to transition students from a K-2 building to a 3-5 building and on to a 6-8 building. With each of these transitions comes new responsibilities and lessons to mitigate the apprehension of our students transitioning to high school. Finally, while the majority of Fremont students attend Mundelein High School, there are significant portions of the population that attend other high schools in our community. Our building administrators work closely with these high schools and ensure that Fremont 79 students are academically ready for the high school they will be attending. During my six years on the Board we have worked hard to create state-of-the-art programming in Fremont 79. Therefore, I do not perceive any changes in adequately preparing our students need to be made at this time.

What budgetary issues will your district have to confront during the next four years and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, be specific about programs and expenses that should be considered for reduction or elimination. On the income side, do you support any tax increases? Be specific.

While Fremont is currently in a finically admirable position, we are not immune to budgetary issues. Unfunded mandates coming from Springfield place an undue financial burden on our district that left unchecked will erode the enviable financial position we currently enjoy. The state of Illinois is working diligently to reduce its dismal financial situation. Consequently, the state has proposed or already signed into law many bills pushing costs to local school districts. Many of the proposals for pension reform will shift the burden of responsibility from the state to the local level which will cause Fremont 79 (and pretty much all school districts throughout the state) to absorb a significant cost increase that is currently not budgeted for. Additionally, while Fremont is in an enviable financial position with 92 percent of the income coming from local property tax dollars, a suggested property tax freeze would cause Fremont to lose a significant amount of money placing its outstanding educational program in jeopardy. While Fremont continuously evaluates programs and activities offered in the district, any unforeseen financial drain to the system arising from Springfield's cost shift would necessitate the school board to have deeper conversations on these topics.

Are you currently employed by or retired from a school district, if so, which one? Is any member of your direct family - spouse, child or child-in-law - employed by the school district where you are seeking a school board seat?

No.

As contract talks come up with various school employee groups - teachers, support staff, etc. - what posture should the school board take? Do you believe the district should ask for concessions from its employees, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?

I believe that contract talks need to be done in a way that is fair for all parties involved. If the district is in a position where it needs to ask for concessions from its employees, the district should find another way to give back to them. I was involved with the previous contract negotiations and instead of posturing we had a very amicable negation process resulting in a fair contract for both the district as well as the teachers. Personally, my goal has always been to provide the employees with as many benefits as possible while ensuring the district stays within a balanced budget.

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. At the direction of the community, the Board of Education has worked in recent years to reduce the substantial pay increases that were historically found in the last few years of a district employee's contract. Not only are these types of pension spiking contracts being eliminated legally in Springfield, they are fiscally irresponsible considering the current financial situation of the State. In my opinion it is better to work with the teachers, administrators and unions to negotiate fair increases during the length of the employment as opposed to backloading the last few years of a contract.