Cecilia Fox: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Cecilia Fox

City: Naperville

Office sought: Naperville 203 School Board Member

Age: 38

Family: I and married with 2 children at Steeple Run Elementary.

Occupation: e-Discovery Project Manager

Education: Juris Doctorate and Bachelor of Science in Accounting

Civic involvement: Previous, president of Ann Reid Home and School, Committee chair for multiple Home and School committees at Ann Reid and Steeple Run.

Previous elected offices held: NA

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? NA

Website: www.ceciliamfox.com

Facebook: ceciliafoxnaperville203

Twitter:

Issue questions

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

Our community's demographics are rapidly changing. Diversity is an asset to our schools. Working alongside people with different backgrounds promotes creativity. As a district, we need to ensure our schools are embracing this diversity for the benefit of our students while they are in our schools and long after the leave. The benefits to embracing diverse learning environments are vast, some of which include, promoting growth, fostering a sense of empathy, expanding open-mindedness, and supporting mindfulness, all while allowing students to embrace their uniqueness AND feel part of the community. Currently, the School Board has done a lot of work to close the learning gap. To effectively tackle this issue, we need to focus on both academic and social emotional learning. Giving students the tools to manage their emotions, set and achieve positive goals, and foster positive relationships is paramount to their academic success and self-advocacy. When these skills are combined with a multi-tier system of supports, our students have a strong starting point to ensure academic achievement. As a district, it is imperative that we stay ahead of the curve on these programs ensuring we remain one of the best school districts in the country.

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?

This district does a great job of preparing our students for higher education and entering the workforce. However, we can always do better. I would want to expand internship and mentorship opportunities within the community. There are countless untapped opportunities for partnerships with local businesses to give real world projects to students through classroom collaboration. This allows students to participate in real life applications and outcomes for the material they are learning. These are the kinds of experiences that ignite a passion to learn. I know from my own experiences how valuable these types of programs can be. When I was in business school, I did a group project for a local energy company in my operations management class. I remember I learned more from this one project than the remainder of that class combined. It's not to say my professor wasn't effective, it's just that putting my knowledge to use for a "real" purpose helped cement what I was learning. Additionally, now in my current profession, I am working directly with this company and started this working relationship out with a positive impression because of something they did for me 20 years ago.

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.

There are a couple budgetary issues I foresee over the next 4 years. First, the costs necessary to ensure effective implementation of continued MTSS programs. Next, the additional costs compounding over the next 5 years if the Illinois Senate bill passed to increase the minimum wage is signed into law. This bill will increase incrementally between now and 2025. We will have time to implement budget adjustments and get ahead of it. Our decisions must be fact based and not emotionally driven. Thus, ensuring we are optimizing available money for student achievement. Some creative ways to both save and make money can be taken from our everyday lives. Shop around, don't get comfortable with vendors and contracts. Make sure we are getting the best deal. Using available state credit card programs can make the district thousands every year. Look for ways to cut utility costs. Look into possible grant programs. There are thousands of grant programs the DOE gives out annually. If we continue to implement smart budgeting, we can avoid making major cuts or raising 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

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?

The school board needs to approach all of these discussions with the primary goal of student achievement in mind. The board has a collaborative relationship with all these groups and that is the best position we all can be in. At the end of the day we have the same goal in mind. Our school employees are essential in the development and success of the students. They need to be paid a fair and competitive wage. We want the best for our students. These goals are worked into the current budgets and there is no reason these talks need to be contentious.

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, the law only allows an increase of 3% in order to prevent school districts from granting double-digit raises to educators approaching retirement in order to boost their pensions. Any excess of this 3% ultimately ends up costing the taxpayers.