Janet M. Gibson: 2025 candidate for College of Lake County Board

Bio

Office sought: Lake County District 532 board (Vote for 2)

City: Lake Forest

Age: 77

Occupation: Retired & Master's Degree Student

Previous offices held: Shields Township Precinct Committeeman; president of local organizations; City appointments: Library Board, Historic Presevation Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals; Lake Forest Symphony Board, Lake Forest Preservation Foundation Board VP

Why are you running for this office, whether for reelection or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

This is my first time running for CLC Board of Trustees. I value our CLC highly and am running as a civic obligation to support continued affordable high-quality education so that students do not carry a debt as they either move into a four-year college or as they enter the workforce once they learn a trade at our CLC tech school program. I am also running to promise due diligence in reviewing financial practices as a board member. Finally, I support long-term development outlook providing growth and educational services.

In tough economic times, many students (and working professionals) turn to a community college for its educational value. How do you ensure that a person’s financial sacrifice results in an educational benefit?

CLC and our Advanced Technology Center (ATC) are a smart investment not only to the student but also to the community. I am committed to an educated society as I was a former college-preparatory English teacher for 14 years at Arlington High School in District 214.

CLC has a $4,200 affordable tuition. On average, CLC students save $30,000 in tuition and fees versus any Illinois public university. The classes at CLC are small — around 15 students, well-known as a positive learning environment. Smaller class sizes nurture and guide the students.

As a board member, I would be securing pell grants and working with the CLC Foundation. Our talented, hardworking foundation provides funding in scholarships and grants through its donors in order to support the students in assuring that their needs are met. Also CLC was proud to announce in 2023 that 73% of the graduates were employed within one year of graduating. Some students, not counted, had enrolled in master's degree programs.

How would you describe the state of your college’s finances? What issues will your district have to confront in coming years 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?

Without having explored all of the finances, I do find that the annual budget of $130 million is appropriate and fair. Even though the Illinois Governor announced in his State of the State address that he wants community colleges to move to four-year programs, I do not know if the board and the CLC president are in agreement. If they were, then the issue of logistics, buildings, grants, and personnel would need to be addressed.

Currently, CLC is on track. Approximately 64% of the funding is derived from our property taxes (mine is around 3%) and is manageable. The students' tuitions are 24%, and the state funding is under 10%. If our state wants CLC to be a four-year college, then the state will need to increase its percentage.

I do not envision any cuts or programs to be reduced, nor do I support any taxes, levies, or fee increases. We have an excellent faculty, well-maintained buildings, and currently 24,000 students to educate and train. I see a bright future.

What are three specific nonfinancial challenges your community college will have to face in the next four years and what are your thoughts about how each should be addressed?

First, we have experienced the devastation of COVID on everyone. As a former teacher, I have been concerned about the effects on our youth with regard to their education. How will CLC maintain its excellence in both academic and technical training following COVID? I'm sure that the president, deans, and faculty either have addressed this or will share this with the board and with the community.

Second, if the state of Illinois wants to expand CLC into a four-year college, I do not want the technical training at ATC to be eliminated. We must maintain excellence in all of our technical training as it evolves into areas we may not know of yet. Substantial careers are made from this.

Third, doesn't the four-year model work against the purpose and mission of CLC? This is a community college without the added expense of dormitories and extra buildings. The board would need to consider the real estate as well as other factors.

Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach agreement and manage school district policy? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions of your school board.

One phrase that describes me is “consensus building,” and I have used this technique for my entire working career. After I left teaching, I started a business. The business took off and thrived due to its relevancy. I broke even in three months and had revenues of seven figures, with a staff of 50 employees. I am one who listens to people and their opinions. My colleagues (employees) and my clients always had important points and have always found that negotiating and altering course to make things better is good for everyone. I have sat on many boards — from the Lake Forest Symphony, Lake Forest Preservation Foundation, Friends of the Lake Forest Library Board (as president), city of Lake Forest’s Library Board (also as president), Historic Preservation Commission, and now Zoning Board of Appeals. All of these boards require consensus if they are to work. I plan to do the same sitting on the CLC Board.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I bring with me to the CLC Board a great deal of energy and experience, as much as anyone else, or more, running for this office. I know the educational system well since I worked in that sector for years. I only left it due to my school that closed.

I was a successful entrepreneur who managed a multimillion dollar business for years with a large staff and multiple locations. My company was in the computer training business and we trained very large corporations in the Chicago area.

Then I was the general manager of the Genesee Theatre, the jewel of Lake County, where I had a large staff and budget. I even used CLC's food services students to work our Green Room. I paid them and wrote recommendations for them. I know how to read budgets and review finances. Most importantly, I believe in CLC's educational mission.

What’s one good idea you have to better your district that no one is talking about yet?

I once was fortunate to have attended a luncheon with Mayor Richard M. Daley some years ago, and his comments have stayed with me. He declared that we had too many service businesses, and we needed to make something. I agreed with him at that time when manufacturing was headed offshore, and I still agree. With the current tariff situation and our need for more manufacturing, I believe that northern Illinois is ripe for expanding our base in this direction. We need to make things. Long gone are the coal-burning factories. We have sophisticated equipment, but we still have a labor issue. A smart, well-trained person in labor must be much better educated today to run the equipment in manufacturing. CLC has a huge opportunity here — even more than what we are doing.