Vasavi Chakka: Candidate Profile

Back to Indian Prairie Unit District 204 School Board

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: NapervilleWebsite: www.vasavichakka.comTwitter: @ChakkaFor204Facebook: ChakkaFor204Office sought: Indian Prairie Unit District 204 School Board Age: 52Family: Married to Dr.Sudhakar Chakka for 30 years. Two children, daughter Siri and son Prahith both graduated from Neuqua Valley High School. Siri worked as a business strategist before she started MBA at UT, Austin, and for final semester study abroad program from London business school. She frequently mentors and advises seniors in high schools, and collages on higher education and career choices. Prahith graduated from university of Minnesota with degrees in Economics, and Political Science. At present he is in AmeriCorps service, teaching and empowering children in under privileged schools in Seattle. He will pursue his further studies in LAW.Occupation: Sr.IT Professional, Leadership coach and Career counselorEducation: Bachelor Science, ChemistryProfessional development: CISMaster of Arts, Hindi Literature Leadership training: University of Houston, Leadership institute. (Naperville Chamber of Commerce).Professional Development Certifications:PMP: Project Management InstitutePCLP: IBM, MCSE: Microsoft, CCNA: Cisco and Six Sigma Greenbelt.Civic involvement: "circ;cent;PTSA President: Neuqua Valley High school (2011-12)"circ;cent;STEM Advocacy for Dist. 204 (2011 "â#128;œpresent)"circ;cent;Kids Matter, Board of Trustee"circ;cent;ThinkGlobalArts Foundation, Advisory committee"circ;cent;Community Alliance for Prevention 360 youth services, Coalition Member"circ;cent;Naperville Downtown Rotary, Executive Board Member (2014-15)"circ;cent;Naperville Chamber of Commerce, Board of Director"circ;cent;Naperville Indian community outreach, Board of Director"circ;cent;Harmony Grove Homeowners Association, Board of Director (2014-2016)"circ;cent;Volunteer Educator (2005 to Present) of value based leadership mentoring and coaching of children at an International Sunday school. (Chinmaya mission Chicago - Badri, A school of Vedantic studies)"circ;cent;Naperville Sister Cities Commission, Appointed by Naperville MayorElected offices held: Elected positioned none.For appointed and nominated positions are listed in the civic engagement section.Questions Answers With growing concern around mental health and addiction, what should the district do to build mentally healthy students, support the mental health of students who have mental illnesses and help students avoid addiction?According to "ËœMental Health America', one out of 5 children are affected by mental health problems at any given time. Only a small fraction of the affected children are getting the required help. Research shows that early intervention could prevent significant mental health problems from developing.Currently, IPSD204 partners with organizations such as "Ëœ360 Youth Services' to promote "ËœOperation Snowball' and "ËœPower of Choice' programs which proved to be very successful in creating awareness for hazardous health effects of substance abuse. They also collaborate with Linden Oaks Behavioral Health to help with behavioral problems."ËœParentsMatterToo' conducts Parent Conversation Circles which are led by a trained facilitator for the parents to develop powerful parenting skills and gain knowledge about the risks and stresses our kids are facing.The school district should continue to strengthen partnerships with community organizations like "ËœKidsMatter', "ËœParentsMatterToo', PDAC, and "ËœSpecial needs PTA' as they play a key role in supporting schools in educating communities on mental illness, behavioral health, substance use, and injury prevention to build mentally healthy students and promote quality life. In the age of technology, children are influenced by social media and fall victims to negative social trends, which lead the students to destructive choices. Currently school district has qualified social workers to guide the students to keep away from destructive choices. However, IPSD204 should also focus on the latest screening programs to identify the early signs of mental health problems so that children can receive the required help in a timely manner.As teachers use more and more technology in the classroom, how much should the district continue to support the eLo online learning consortium and the STEM Partnership school at Aurora University? How should spending on these technology-related learning experiences be balanced with other educational and financial priorities?Education is constantly changing the way students learn and how teachers instruct. Technology is often the driving force behind most of the world's innovations. Cultivating an e-learning culture in a school system compliments traditional teaching as a value added proposition. The "eLO" implementation in IPSD 204 is intended to engage students and ensure their success by providing a meaningful and high-quality online learning experience in a locally supported environment.By partnering with local districts, more course options could be offered to students in a cost effective manner through cost sharing among districts. Students seem to like these online classes since they provide flexibility and offer a wide variety of courses to choose from. It also helps prepare students for college and career efficiently. Currently 50 students in grades 3-8 from IPSD schools are attending John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School at Aurora University, which offers a combination of curriculum and instruction designed to support students' interest in science and mathematics. This partnership doesn't incur any additional cost burden to the school district. The administrative costs are shared with another 3 districts. Districts select the students for the STEM school using a variety of academic indicators and other personal factors. As long as there is a demand for "eLo" and STEM offerings and no additional cost burden to the district, we should support these programs and cater to the students' needs.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 Superintendent is responsible for recommending a comprehensive curriculum that is aligned with the district's educational philosophy and goals. Then the Board adopts the recommendation of such curriculum meeting the IPSD 204 criteria.The role of the Board is to support the design and implementation process of the curriculum developed by standards in their district. The Board must establish structure and discipline to develop and adopt policies to accomplish goals for setting a comprehensive, well designed approach to curriculum and assessment, which is crucial to effective teaching and learning in the field of education. Set budget priorities necessary to assist in maintain and improving standards, with aligned curriculum, appropriate instructional materials, and professional development to meet the changing needs of teachers and students.The current curriculum was thoughtfully developed by many expert teachers and standards experts. Local teachers, principals, superintendents, and other experts continue to decide how the standards are to be met. Teachers will continue to devise lesson plans and tailor instruction to the individual needs of the students in their classrooms.IPSD 204 curriculum review program monitors the curriculum and promptly suggests changes to make the curriculum more effective. This program regularly evaluates the curriculum and instructional programs to ensure that the curriculum continues to meet the stated adoption criteria. It also includes input from a cross-section of teachers, administrators, parents/guardians, and students, representing all schools, grade levels, disciplines, and specialized and alternative programs. The Board will get a report on these efforts as appropriate for their approval.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?We continue to face a difficult financial crisis for education in Illinois. Under the current funding formula, IPSD 204 faces two challenges.1) The State views the current trend in property value increases in IPSD 204 as a means to shift more of the funding burden onto local property owners.2) Declining enrollment in IPSD 204 schools makes this situation more difficult as the funding is provided on a per-pupil basis that results in less state funding and more dependency on local taxpayers.IPSD 204 administration cautioned that the district will require to take appropriate steps soon to avoid deficit spending starting in year 2020. The district's latest financial forecast indicates that if the currently proposed property tax freeze goes through, IPSD204 could lose more than $36 Million over a five-year period.IPSD 204 is already operating on a very lean cost per pupil, therefore the Board and the District must vigilantly examine all the funding and budget issues as they unfold. When making budget cuts, we must keep the best interests of our children in mind. Hence, the IPSD 204 administration and the Board must continue to work synergistically to be innovative to be cost effective. We can tap the local businesses and other private sector entities within our community to partner with the school district to provide innovative and practical solutions to address this problem. My 18+ years' of business and 'operational process improvement' experience can bring substantial value to the Board in identifying and leveraging these opportunities.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?IPSD 204 schools are ranked one of the best in the nation. D204 offered a solid schooling to my both children and helped them to do extremely well in their higher studies. Since last decade the district took a quantum leap in improving the programs they offer. Even with its lean budget, it offers high quality and wide range of programs such as Grammy quality music, art programs, innovation through its robotics, entrepreneurship, special education programs, full day kindergarten, variety of sports and other special needs programs. Now they have started new initiatives such as "eLo" online learning, and partnership with STEM school at Aurora University. When it comes to children's unique educational needs and better school choices for their children, parents most often look for similar types of comprehensive programs. Children have different needs, preferences, and everyone's schooling experience can be improved if children are allowed greater freedom to find the right niche or their element.The research shows that when charter school and voucher options were provided to the parents, it seems to increase competitive pressure on the public schools. When public schools know that students have a choice and can leave using vouchers, those schools have a much more powerful incentive to improve their performance to keep those students in. The Board has to make sure that the IPSD 204 offers equal or better quality comprehensive education than alternatives so that even if a choice is given, the parents community may not apt for any other alternatives.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Importance of holistic approach to learning I was brought up with the understanding that education should help to cultivate the moral, emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions of the developing child. Many schools and teachers do their best to make academics more meaningful and cultivate enthusiasm for learning. However their primary goal is to graduate children who meet the basic academic standards.In recent times many parents are opting out of this traditional educational model to adopt a more holistic philosophy of child development.Adopting such a model helps to educate children in all aspects of learning in addition to the traditional academic components, which focuses on actively cultivating the development of the whole child. If this approach to public education is offered, many parents may be interested in giving their child an education that goes beyond academics. In addition, multiculturalism in public education will help in developing a child's social, emotional, and psychological skills. Yoga and meditation can also help students relieve stress and help balancing their intellectual and emotional sides. Schools should provide opportunities for unleashing the creativity and innovation in children in addition to educating them in traditional subjects and promote healthy lifestyles. These can be accomplished without any additional financial burden on schools simply by creating a culture to promote an overall well being of the children.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Bill Gates, (besides my father). His ingenuity, and humanity is most commendable. One of the initiatives of Gates Foundation is improving education in the U.S.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Helping others should be the way of life, but not an option. My parents lived their life with this example until end of their lives.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I am blessed with a great life. Only one thing I would do-over is spend more time with my parents before they passed away.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Social studies and History. These given me a glimpse of the past which shaped today's world. Yesterday's wisdom helped to shape today's vision in life.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Be accountable for your actions and ready to face the consequences associated with those actions. So choose your actions wisely to stay out of trouble.