Alicia Saxton: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Alicia Saxton

City: Geneva

Office sought: School Board Representative

Age: 35

Family: Husband, Jason(GHS '99), Children, Lila (7) and Elena (5)

Occupation: Pure Barre Fitness Instructor

Education: B.S. from Illinois State University, M.S. from Eastern Illinois University

Civic involvement: none

Previous elected offices held: none

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? no

Website: www.SaxtonforGeneva304.com

Facebook: @AliciaSaxtonforGeneva304

Twitter: N/A

Issue questions

What are the most important issues facing your district and how do you intend to address them?

After the teacher's strike, there is a dire need to repair the relationship between the board and the teacher's union. It is my hope to be able to begin this process by being available to teachers, creating more open dialogue between board members and teachers, and increasing the transparency of the directives and decisions that the board makes. In addition to this, financial responsibility is always at the forefront of every community member's mind. If elected, I will make every effort to discuss these matters with community members and seek out their feedback and ideas on financial measures. Community members are a vital part of our school district; when board members are accessible and community voices are a part of the decision-making process, we can ensure that all stakeholder beliefs are accurately represented.

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?

My children attend elementary school, and so far I am extremely happy with the gains that each child has made each year. Whether there is a need for reading intervention or special education services, I feel that my children's teachers are on top of these issues and communicate with my husband and I appropriately and effectively. My previously held teaching job was teaching Family and Consumer Sciences Education at Elk Grove High School. It is important to me that our schools and districts are preparing our students for all possible career tracks; taking into account trade schools, community college, as well as four-year universities. While I do believe that our teachers and staff do a great job with Social and Emotional Learning, this is an aspect of education that is constantly evolving. We need to continue to address how students are affected by social media, bullying and their peer relationships.

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? Be specific.

While we are currently in a good place financially as a district, we have aging facilities that will need to be addressed in the future. As it sits, Fabyan Elementary School is experiencing low enrollment due to families aging out; other schools in our district, for example, Williamsburg Elementary, continue to experience growth in their student population. Geneva High School currently has mobile classrooms in place to accommodate the growing population as well. It is my belief that the board will have to address the use and individual enrollment of each school sooner rather than later. I do not believe that there should be any budget cuts, our district has recently paid down a significant amount of debt and currently has a surplus of funds. While I do not support an across the board tax increase there are many factors that must be taken into account when discussing financial issues in a school district. If the needs arises for a possible tax increase, I promise to encourage dialogue between board members and stakeholders to explore all avenues of funding. During financial talks, a solution that can be achieved without an impact on taxpayers should be the goal of our board.

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

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?

During contract negotiations, I believe that it is imperative for the school board to take a collaborative stance. There should be no agenda when both parties come to the table. Depending on the state of the district's finances, I believe that teachers can and should be asked to make concessions when necessary. With that being said, previous year's negotiations should be taken into account. For instance, the Geneva Education Association agreed to concessions to help the district pay down their debt during the previous contract negotiations in 2015 with the promise of this being taken into account during the next negotiation process. However, during the 2018 negotiations, the GEA was again forced to make concessions without regard to the concessions made during the last negotiation process. By not following through on promises, it is my opinion that this contributed to the breakdown of talks. The board should make every effort to meet the teachers halfway during contract talks. If this cannot be achieved, the reasons why should be communicated to all stakeholders to preserve the working relationship between the governing bodies.

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?

The State of Illinois has created major pension problems, in part due to the practice of bumping a teacher or administrator salary in the last few years of their contract prior to retirement. While there was a law recently passed putting a percentage cap on salary bumps in the last few years of their contract, school boards can still increase an administrator salary to maximize pensions. I am against this practice. Our state is unable to fund the pensions of public employees and is passing the burden back onto individual communities. I believe that if an administrator or superintendent is deserving of a raise due to school achievement or other factors, then they should absolutely be rewarded; however, no school board school be actively increasing salaries in order to maximize pension benefits.