Margaret DeLaRosa: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Margaret DeLaRosa

City: Glen Ellyn

Office sought: Glenbard High School District 87 - Member Board of Education

Age: 57

Family: Spouse with three children - GBW graduates: 2002, 2012, & 2017

Occupation: HRIS/Business Analyst

Education: BS-Accounting; DePaul University

Civic involvement: Chair, District 87 Finance committee since 2017

Past GBW Booster Board Member

Past D41 PTA President

Past Hadley Jr High PTA President

Past President League of Women Voters-Glen Ellyn

Previous elected offices held: Glenbard District 87 Board Member

Incumbent: If yes, when were first elected? Incumbent; elected 2015

Website: N/A

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Issue questions

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

The most important issue facing district 87 is succession planning. Pending retirements are an opportunity to chart the next phase of district growth. The broader goal of maintaining a competitive education for our students and bringing value to our communities cannot happen without leadership. We need to prepare for staff changes and develop that next set of goals for our program.

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?

I am very satisfied District 87 is preparing students both entering and exiting our district especially if students are college-bound.

Where we have an opportunity to improve preparation is with our workforce-bound students. I would like see district 87 develop a program to guide, and support students into the job market. We have the beginnings of this with our incubator classes at Glenbard East; our partnership with College of DuPage, and classes at DuPage Technology Center.

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.

District 87 has a 5 year rolling financial plan, where CPI, forecasted enrollment is used to drive our full-time equivalent numbers. These plans have been modeled to include a pension cost shift and property tax freeze, both which were discussed as possible state revenue solutions in the prior state administration. We continue to track our progress against our financial plans, and work with state legislators. We are fortunate to have reliable tax payers, and I hope we have demonstrated to our tax payers that we prudently manage our financial resources. Our practice is to always look ahead and manage our costs accordingly.

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, I am not currently employed by Glenbard District 87, nor is any member of my immediate family.

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?

Discussions on contracts are managed with each labor group. Glenbard is very transparent on what drives district costs since we do have a rolling five year plan. FTE (full-time equivalents) numbers are determined by enrollment. Enrollment projections are publicly available.

I believe Glenbard is fiscally prudent, and will act in good faith with each of our labor groups.

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?

I would not support an increase to solely boost pension benefits. Pension benefits should be fair to both the recipient and to Illinois tax payers.