U-46 board hopefuls: No ‘sacred cows’

The Elgin Area School District U-46 school board is not for the faint of heart.

When four board members are elected in April — two of whom will be new to the board — they will be thrust into the thick of negotiations with all six unions in the district.

And while board members will not be involved in negotiations on a day-to-day basis, they are responsible for setting the tone of contract talks and making the final decisions.

In a recent Daily Herald editorial board interview, candidates seeking one of the four seats up for election offered differing approaches to those crucial talks, coming at a time when U-46 is facing a $40 million operating deficit.

The candidates are: Maria Bidelman and Amy Kerber, both incumbents; and challengers Gary Percy, Traci O’Neal Ellis, Jennifer Shroder and Mary VanSlyck.

Most candidates agreed that everything should be on the table during contract talks.

“Accomplishing six contracts at one time ... that is a daunting task,” said Percy, a member of the Citizens Advisory Council and 2009 candidate for the school board. “All sides need to be realistic ... I don’t think anything should be off the table.”

O’Neal Ellis offered a similar perspective and said she would contribute her experience as an attorney who has practiced labor law.

In a Daily Herald candidate questionnaire, she wrote, “I have the experience and temperament to build relationships, deal fairly and objectively, and make sound decisions on these tough issues.”

While several candidates shied away from endorsing certain positions, such as a salary freeze for employees or tying raises to the rate of inflation, the two incumbents expressed support for inflation-based increases — which the district has used in recent contracts.

In her questionnaire, Kerber wrote, “Tying salary increases to inflation can be a sensible strategy. This has been district practice in the past, and it’s a fiscally responsible way to support salaries as the economy allows.”

Bidelman wrote, “Increases that are tied to inflation can help to keep salaries competitive and help to fairly compensate the staff.”

Shroder said the emphasis during negotiations must always remain on the kids. She also said the district must show fairness across employee groups.

“I wouldn’t support freezing teachers’ salaries without an across-the-board, districtwide salary freeze,” she wrote in her questionnaire. “Teachers should not be singled out to carry the burden. The financial burden needs to be evenly distributed between all.”

VanSlyck, a former career specialist at Bartlett High School, suggested that whatever the outcome of negotiations the final agreements will have to be fiscally conservative.

“Nobody who has been paying attention can think there is magic money going to show up from somewhere,” VanSlyck said. “It’s not there. That’s the reality.”