Kevin Gentry: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Kevin Gentry

City: Huntley, IL

Office sought: Huntley Community School District #158 Board of Education

Age: 49

Family: Married to Michele Gentry, Daughter Alison Gentry (Huntley High School Class of 2015)

Occupation: SVP Credit and Analytics / Financial Services

Education: BA Accounting, Michigan State University, MBA Finance, Western Michigan University

Civi involvement: Board of Education Member since 2007, District 158 Financial Advisory Committee

Previous elected offices held: Board of Education Member since 2007, Past President, and Vice President

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? Yes, 2007

Issue questions

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

The most important issue of this district and any district is to continue to grow and improve student achievement. From a board perspective the most critical action plan is ensuring the appropriate framework is in place to measure and assess progress, and embracing the change needed to make the required changes, either in curriculum and staffing strategies.

In addition, in our district, we aspire to ensure success and equity for all students. To this end, we need to continue to increase focus on the performance of all student subgroups to ensure that all students, including those with special challenges have the needed environment to succeed. Again the measurement and assessment process that we have in place is critical along with taking targeted actions that are highlighted by those assessments. I believe there is room for improvement in this area for our district.

Lastly, we need to continue to drive our current best in class mentality on cost management where we consistently maintain the lowest operating cost per pupil spending across our peer districts to the advantage of both our students and taxpayers.

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?

From a curriculum and achievement perspective, I am very satisfied with how we prepare our students for the next phase of their lives. Key strengths I see are a very sound performance assessment process and expertise, along with learning innovations such as blended learning, one to one, and the most recent personalized learning initiative. In addition, the innovation we have within our various academies (Medical, Engineering, World Studies etc.) is a huge asset to our students.

Another area I see as a strength is the depth and breadth of our extracurricular offerings that include multiple sports and clubs as well as a rich fine arts program. The volume of our offerings allows for a large percentage of students to actively participate beyond the classroom.

The changes I would like to see are more innovation on the emotional learning front with students. I believe today's social environment is more and more challenging for students and we need to seek ways to improve upon a culture of support within the student and staff community.

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.

Our district is in very sound shape from a budget perspective overall. Likely issues we may confront include funding volatility at the state level for various reasons and increasing facility age and related maintenance costs, both of which we are well positioned for.

On the income side, I believe we do a very solid job in driving productivity in non-classroom impacting areas such as energy contracts and solar power initiatives. This continued expertise will allow us to work within the existing tax framework.

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 on each question.

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?

I believe our Board should continue to take a stance of transparency in partnership with our various employee groups. As with any educational institution, our employees are the lifeblood of the educational excellence that we strive for. While we are currently in a period of financial stability and health, circumstances can change quickly and require us to be adaptable. This may require freezes or other reductions down the road. That being said, there is an ongoing need to be cognizant of what is required to remain competitive in order attract and retain top talent.

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?

Absolutely not. I believe maneuvers such as these are an abuse of the system. The pension systems are in a state a chronic crisis for various reasons and practices such as these only make it worse. These practices attempt to pass along significant long term cost to the state at large with no related benefit.