Jan Donovan: Candidate Profile

Back to DuPage High School District 88 School Board (4-year Terms

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: Villa ParkWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: DuPage High School District 88 School Board (4-year Terms Age: 62Family: Candidate did not respond.Occupation: education consultantEducation: Bachelor of Arts Master of Arts Ph.D.Civic involvement: Coached youth basketball teams and now referee those gamesElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers How satisfied are you that your school district is adequately 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?Our district ranks 47 in the top 100 districts in Illinois so I think we are generally doing a fine job of preparing our students for the future. Our graduates have been able to enroll in top universities around the country.What budgetary issues will your district have to confront during the next four years and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, be specific about programs and expenses that should be considered for reduction or elimination. On the income side, do you support any tax increases for local schools? Again, be specific.I do not know what specific financial issues will arise other than the usual of contracts and other expenses as well as being able to pay the bills. We must be efficient in spending the money. I voted for the last tax increase to remodel the schools, but know that there is a limit to how much any of us can afford in higher taxes.Are you currently employed by or retired from a school district, if so, which one? Is any member of your direct family - spouse, child or child-in-law - employed by the school district where you are seeking a school board seat?No and no.As contract talks come up with various school employee groups -- teachers, support staff, etc. -- what posture should the school board take? 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 need to be as competitive as possible with our pay structure if we want to attract and keep highly qualified educators. It is really impossible to give answers to hypothetical questions. When the time arises for negotiations, how they are conducted will depend on the finances at that 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 do not believe that that process is being good stewards of the limited pension funds. Whatever regular pay raises that are in the contract are fine, but bumping up a salary artificially to add pension money just does not seem right nor good business.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Candidate did not respond.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Pete Carrol of the Seahawks because he took responsibility for a bad call. Few political leaders today accept responsibility, but rather blame others.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Always work hard and and keep growing and learningIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I do not play those games.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I liked all of my subjects in school. The biggest impact was my doctoral work which sharpened my thinking and communication skills.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Always grow and learn. Never stop.