Sotiria Kapsis: 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: NapervilleWebsite: http://www.sammiekapsisfor204.comOffice sought: Indian Prairie Unit District 204 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 37Family: Married for almost 14 years to husband, Dimitri, with two children - Vasiliki, a 7th grader at Crone Middle School and Eirene, a 4th grader at Peterson Elementary.Occupation: The last 4 yrs I've been able to stay home and be involved with my childrens? education through the PTA, IPPC and now the School Board. I am a licensed Professional School Counselor for the States of IL, VA. Prior to that I was a Teacher School DirectorEducation: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Multicultural Studies, George Mason University, 1998; Masters of Education in Counseling Development, George Mason University, 2007Civic involvement: 1st Vice President, Indian Prairie Parent Council (IPPC) Chair of Legislation Committee, IPPC Member, Peterson PTA and Crone PTSA Member, Illinois Counselor Association Member, Illinois School Counselor AssociationElected offices held: noneHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Teamwork Student Performance - I joined this race, after I realized the need in our district to have members on the school board that can continue the work of our previous board, and lead with excellence to inspire our students, teachers, administration and community to work together with a common goal. When we collaborate and communicate effectively with all stake holders in our district, we bring out the best strengths everyone can offer, and through trust we can also discuss our weaknesses so that we can improve upon them. We are in the midst of extraordinary Education Reform, and intense budget constrains. However we have all the pieces of the equation to be a successful, leading school district in our country. Preparing for new performance measurements, will demand thorough review for reliability, and validity of assessments for all student groups. We cannot be stagnant and assume that our teachers alone can achieve success and progress through the next assessments. We need to reach out to every stake holder and assure that everyone is on board, that every classroom is ready, and every member of our community is prepared to help our next generation explore deeper into their world.Key Issue 2 Safety, Communication and Social Emotional Supports - I will never forget the day, 14 years ago, when a young student came to me and said,Mrs. Kapsis, do you know that you are like a second mom to me? My mom and I were talking about that last night.?... Every day that our children leave our doorstep to go to school, we are entrusting every person they come across to help them feel safe, supported, and do everything they can to insure a brighter future for them. It's my goal to foster an environment where every child feels supported, safe and has access to what they need to succeed. We are fortunate to live in a district where everyone believes that we have the ability to be successful. It's my mission to use that energy, enthusiasm and belief to roll into every classroom, and into the hearts of every student. If we share our passion and drive and let our students know that they are number 1 in our mind, they can feel like number 1 in theirs! This is the character that attracted me to District 204, to raise my children and donate my time and experience. This is also an element that I want to help assure our students feel and have in their school environment. As a parent and Licensed Professional School Counselor, I will do all I can to insure that our social emotional curriculum and Student Support Services, provide for a safe environment for all students. I will aspire to be a role model for building positive relationships that acknowledge the strengths of our district, and encourage development and growth opportunities in our areas of weakness. Open Communication and Transparency will play an important role. As always, I will continue to be present in the community, to receive input, concerns, and suggestions from all Aurora, Bolingbrook, Naperville and Plainfield residents that represent District 204 students (PTA, IPPC, PDAC, etc).Key Issue 3 Fiscal Responsibility, STEM initiative and Building Community Partnerships: It is my goal to continue the roll that district 204 has already taken in encouraging community involvement and building partnerships in our district that enhance the daily curriculum for all our students. Along with the roll out of the common core standards, that place focus on technology, critical thinking and diversity, it is imperative that we be proactive in creating opportunities where our students can excel in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math.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?I am excited that Illinois has decided to adopt the common core standards that were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators and education experts. They are research and evidence based, align with college and career expectations, rigorous and internationally benchmarked. They encourage our students to demonstrate independence, build a stronger content knowledge, critical thinking, and improve communication in relation to audience, task, purpose and discipline. They involve strategic use of technology and digital media. Furthermore, they develop an understanding of anothers? perspective and culture, which is increasingly valuable as a 21st century skill, in the classroom and workforce where people of diverse experiences and perspectives are represented. The role our board of education should be playing in setting the curriculum for our students, is a collaborative role with our teachers, principals, superintendent, and administrators who are working on Core Curriculum, Assessment, Research and Evaluation. From what I have read of the work done so far in developing new assessments, based on the common core standards, by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, the expectations of student knowledge will surpass basic comprehension and recall of facts and terms, to extended analysis, investigation and basically deeper learning. Therefore it is imperative that our School Board work hard in a collaborative effort to support the use of resources that will enhance further exploration into the curriculum and best meet Common Core Standards.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?I have no doubt that our district is vested in preparing our students for the next stage in their lives. This year this was exemplified when fourteen of our district schools received an academic excellence award, leading all other suburban districts in the amount of schools receiving this honor. A total of 537 students from our high schools earned the Illinois State Scholar Award for outstanding academic achievement. My involvement in the Indian Prairie Parent Council over the last three years, has offered me the opportunity to hear first hand what our district is doing on a daily basis to be proactive in supporting our students and preparing them for the next stage in their lives. I intentionally use the word proactive, because my perception of our district's movements in education have been forward in thought, and innovative in development. I am impressed by the training and preparation for our administrators to facilitate and support our teachers in highlighting their strengths and further developing their classroom teaching philosophy in relation to the new Common Core Standards. This correlates positively to the teacher evaluations coming down the line that will have a tie with student performance. The transition of the Common Core Standards is currently focused on Mathematics, and English/language arts (ELA). I am eager to see the transition into the other areas of study come to fruition. Efforts supporting the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative, such as Project Lead the Way have been an excellent start,and I would like to see more similar efforts throughout our PreK-12 curriculum. i am aware of our budget constrains, I am eager to continue our pursuit of community and business partnerships that support this cause, and culminate into a stronger and united community that supports the achievement of all our students. Currently, our district is partnering with local businesses, like the Rauner Family Foundation, Inc and EverFi, to bring critical financial literacy education to our high school students. The Aurora Regional Pathways to Prosperity Project provides internships to students and paves the way to employment after High School. The Institute for Collaboration of Aurora University announced this past summer the John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School on the university campus for 3rd through 8th grade students from Aurora West 129, Aurora East 131, Indian Prairie 204, and Oswego 308 School Districts. These are all great opportunities for our students, and I would encourage our staff to work collaboratively with these partners with the goal of transferring this knowledge into all classrooms across our district.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 obviously plan to do an extensive review of our budget when elected on to our School Board of Education. I appreciate that our previous board has already trimmed our budget by 40 million dollars over the last 4 years. I intend to study closely and better understand their reasoning behind their decisions, and from there address areas of opportunity where measures can be taken to reduce expenses efficiently. As legislation chair for IPPC, I have been sharing with our parent community the impact a pension cost shift and drop in state and federal funding could have on our school district's budget. No one wants to see programs cut in our schools, nor classroom sizes increase, however if our district receives the burden of the shift of cost, or reduction in state and federal funding, we will be placed in a difficult position. I promise to work my hardest with the school board, administrators, teachers, staff, and professional leaders in our community to make decisions that will have the least negative impact on our community and education.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?We should not start the conversation with concession from our employees or raises given by the district. We should start the conversation with how can we retain talent and what areas of opportunity are there for improvement. We are in the midst of a critical Education Reform period in our Nation and have expanded our training and development to support our teachers and staff through this transition. Everyone has invested a great deal of effort and time in this process, and should at this point have a common goal and purpose in the education and support of our students. Meanwhile I am aware that no other industry out there receives automatic raises or concessions. Therefore, it's difficult to look at this as an across the board decision. Retention of talent should always play a key role. Also to be considered is that If an employee does not have the motivation, why would they put the extra effort in to their daily practice and task at hand. If they feel like they are being punished, regardless of what they do, then they will not take the extra step. If that would require some concession or some additional funds by the district, then it's best to be considered. Across the board increases or decreases is not the best answer.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?Our pension system in Illinois is in trouble and our regular budget is in trouble. Yet I am being asked if I would support a temporary salary increase so that we can short circuit the pension system for a higher overall pension? I would not support such an increase. No, the funds can be used to retain educator talent and support our students. If we do this now, we set a precedence and unfair future expectation of another superintendent to expect the same thing. Salary increase and salary benefits should be used very carefully to produce results, not to provide a farewell bonus.