Heather Janquart: 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: VoloWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Big Hollow District 38 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 39Family: Married with two children. One at Grant High School and one at Big HollowOccupation: Closer, Fidelity National TitleEducation: Candidate did not respond.Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: School Board 2009- presentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 School Safety: AS a community it is imperative that the children, teachers and parents feel that going to school will be a safe environment for learning. I feel that we need to increase the security measures that we already have in place, and continue to follow up with the local law enforcement to help keep our children safe. We also need to practice more regular crisis drills in case of emergency to have better rediness.Key Issue 2 Fiscial Accountability: As a school board member, I am responsible to be a steward of the community money and ensure that we are utilizing it to its fullest extent without over spending. Educating the children is our first priority while balancing our budget and living within our means is a very close second.Key Issue 3 Student Achievement : Continue to provide for the needs of all surdents, ensure that the staff has the necesssary tools to teach to all of the children in the classroom. We need our children to be able to continue to stand out as they move through life, with knowledge and true understanding of the basic concepts.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 believe the new comon core standards will allow children and teacher's time to work on competency before moving on and not having a full understanding. It will create a better rounded student. As a school board member, it is our job to set policy and ensure that it is being followed, so we do not set curriculum, that being said, I do believe that it is necessary to have excellent communication between administration, teachers, and parents so everyone is aware of what the expectations are.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 beleive that Big Hollow prepares out students well. Several of our students fo on to do well at Grant High School, where the majority of the Big Hollow alumi are on the top ten lists of top performers. I feel that this speaks well to the education that our children are receiving at Big Hollow. Big Hollow also has partnership with Grant High School for our students to take a freshman math class as an 8th grader.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?We, like many other districts are facing budget shortfalls. The deficit for this year is more than originally projected; we are currently facing about a $1.3 million deficit for this year. We are facing having to cut staff, increaase class size, and a myriad of other things to balance out budget. We must get out budget under control, and we need as a board to work wiht our Superintendant to analyze the wants vs. needs of the district. Fiscal responsibility will be to say no to the wants and to be creative with the needs. Lake County faces large numbers of foreclosures and the people in the community have told us that they just can not afford more taxes. I am not for any tax increase at this time.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?I feel that we have no other choice but to make concessions in all areas. The Big Hollow teacher contract is up in August 2013 and I feel that it would be best practice not to comment further at this time.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, I would not. I am not aware of any other profession where you are allowed to receive a substantial increase in order to boost your retirement. Big Hollow can not afford to pay out large increases to the Administration, when we are facing such shortfalls. I do not support this kind of "bumping".