Jim Mallory: Candidate Profile

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:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: MedinahWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Medinah District 11 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 61Family: Married, 2 childrenOccupation: Director of Sales Engineering for The Frain GroupEducation: BS marketing with Minor in finance NIUCivic involvement: School board member for 20 years, youth soccer coachElected offices held: School boardHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Maintaining high educational standards and performance in light of our changing demographics and continuing high mobility. Our Primary School now qualifies for the National Free Breakfast Program. In addition and due to ongoing demographic shifts in Medinah, the BOE is considering implementation of a full Spanish bilingual program for the 2013-14 school year. 10 years ago we had 5 students that qualified for free or reduced rate lunches. Currently approximately 1/3 of our students now qualify. In our primary building 40% qualify. We have 22 different languages other than English which are the primary language spoken by the family. When you add it all up this places a tremendous burden on our staff to perform at a high level. During the 2011/12 school year 90.9% of our students met or exceeded the state standards in grades 3 - 8.Key Issue 2 Fiscal responsibility. For the past 9 years the IL State Board of Education has prepared a school district financial profile. IdentifyingFinancial Recognition? as the highest category of financial strength. For each of these 9 years Medinah District 11 has achieved this recognition. In the financial markets we have a Municipal bond rating of Aa3. Maintaining this financial stability is becoming increasingly more difficult as fed state mandates are only partially funded at best. This is shifting the burden to the school districts and ultimately to the local tax payer.Key Issue 3 Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What do you think about the shift to the common core standards? 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?It's about time we establish a common baseline and hold our schools accountable for achieving them. Every year as we review the results of our state tests, we compare those students who joined our district in kindergarten and first grade with those who joined us later. Each year those who joined us early consistently out perform those who came later. As for the board role our role is to make sure we have the right superintendent in place to manage our district. We hold our superintendent accountable to have the right people in place to develop and implement our curriculum. We work with our superintendent in an advisory capacity to ensure our administrators and staff have the resources and environment to succeed.How satisfied are you that your district is 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?It's an evolution in an ever changing world. Our Director of Learning and our teachers meet regularly to review and recommend enhancements to our curriculum. Come to one of our board meeting and listen to the monthly update we receive and you will understand how we are evolving and better preparing our students. While we are not perfect we are very good.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 increases?I do not support a tax rate increase at this time. The budget issue is difficult. How do you maintain a high quality educational program in a safe and nurturing environment when your expenses and unfunded mandates are increasing faster than your revenues? 11 years ago our financial projections identified a trend that we were heading towards deficit spending. At that time, (and every year since), we began making the difficult decisions. We eliminatedluxury? positions and programs. We cut expenses and renegotiated contracts. The net result is that for the past 10 years, while 67% of our states districts are currently operating in deficit spending, we continue to operate in the black. Our board does not believe inkicking it down the road?.As contract talks come up with various school employee groups, 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?These are difficult times. Fortunately over the years our district has promoted a culture of communication and cooperation. 3 years ago when new revenue for the year was 1/10 of 1% and our expenses were increasing at a rate of roughly 3% our administrators and teachers accepted a year without raises. We are all in this together. We do what we can with what we have.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. It's an outdated program that was initiated by our state legislators. This is a benefit that we removed part way through our current contract.