Christopher Kocinski: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Christopher Kocinski

City: Elmhurst

Office sought: Member, District 205 Board of Education

Age: 35

Family: My wife, Kate, and I have four children ranging from ages three to ten. We have lived in Elmhurst for eight years.

Occupation: Managing Director at investment management firm Neuberger Berman. Co-Director of Research within the Fixed Income business.

Education: BA in Economics from The University of Chicago. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Civic involvement: Community involvement has included coaching youth baseball, division coordinator for girls youth soccer and the District 205 Community Advisory Team.

Previous elected offices held: None.

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? No.

Website: KocinskiFor205.com

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Issue questions

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

• I look forward to working on behalf of District 205 as a member of the school board. I believe that effective boards are teams of people that have complementary skills. Especially as we begin the process of raising money and allocating funds to complete projects approved in our recent referendum, I believe that my background in finance and management would be an asset to the board and the community in the years ahead. Top areas of focus for me if elected are the following:

* Pursuit of academic excellence - throughout the district and across age groups - I believe that establishing goals for progress throughout the district, recruiting and retaining leaders who can drive towards those goals and a culture of accountability to our community are important aspects of improving academic performance over time. I also believe that it will be important to ensure that our educators are able to remain focused on academic performance while the referendum projects are ongoing, through a comprehensive effort to minimize disruptions risks.

* Maintain security as a top priority and an area for continuous improvement over time - I believe that our district has done good work in the area of security and also that there remain opportunities for continuous improvement. For example, I support funding entrances consistent with best practice in security across all buildings in the district as soon as possible. I also believe in an integrated approach to school safety including mental health and anti-bullying efforts. Lastly, new ideas and technologies should be evaluated consistently over time to ensure that we keep pace with best practice in school safety. I would support evaluating whether the district would benefit from having a designated Head of Security or Head of Health and Safety, who would be responsible for our processes in these areas.

* Fiscal responsibility on behalf of District 205 taxpayers - Especially as we begin the process of building out projects associated with the recent referendum, I believe that budgetary discipline is critical. From my conversations with members of our community, their clear expectation is that these projects will be completed on schedule and under budget. I have heard this feedback clearly and would work towards achieving those goals.

* Execute on referendum projects, with a focus on reducing disruption risks during the process - I believe that we should re-examine the operating structures currently in place to ensure that we make appropriate adjustments to manage an increased work-flow in the years ahead. There is a need to execute successfully on several projects while at the same time improving academic performance each year for our students. We need to make sure that our administrators and educators have the support that they need and are in a position to be successful while we pursue these goals.

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 believe that we have a good school system already in place that prepares our children for their future endeavors, but that we also have room to grow in order to reach our full potential as a district. Maintaining a continuous improvement mindset is an important component to achieving improving academic outcomes for our district over time. I would look forward to partnering with and listening to our administration, educators, parents, students and other stakeholders for ways that we can continue to improve upon our current practices.

• One specific area for improvement in my opinion are Kindergarten programs. I am a strong supporter of a full-day Kindergarten option in our community. I believe in helping families get off to a good start with their education, and I believe that full-day Kindergarten will be an important component of improving academic results over the long term. Where we have available space, I am in favor of piloting full day Kindergarten to learn from experience prior to a full roll-out across the district.

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.

• I am a strong believer in fiscal responsibility on behalf of taxpayers and would look to use my finance and management experience to optimize our spending to the greatest extent possible. I would oppose any plans which would further increase the tax burden on our district beyond that approved in the recent referendum. The most important budgetary issues facing our district in my opinion are executing under budget on referendum projects and ensuring that the mix of our overall spending reflects the priorities of our community. Importantly, economic conditions, legislative and other factors can change unexpectedly, and I believe that the skill set of the school board should always be positioned to adjust accordingly.

• Our community showed strong support for education with the passage of our recent referendum. At the same time, they expect district leadership to deliver in several areas - completing the projects on-time, under-budget, while improving academically along the way. If there are ways for us to meet the commitments made to our community, in a high quality manner, and to do so for less than $168 million, we should be aiming to achieve that outcome.

• I would make decisions as a board member in the context of our budgetary constraints and also our future financial risks. I view financial planning as critical to the long-term delivery of consistent programs and results for our district.

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?

• I value educators, administrators and staff, and recognize the many positive impacts that they can have on our children and our community. Pursuing academic excellence across our district is a top priority, and we need to recruit, train and retain talented partners in all areas to continue improving our results over time. In my personal life, I grew up with educators and school staff members in my family, and I have learned first-hand the positive impacts that they can have on children and the community where they work.

• Regarding contract negotiations, I believe that each situation is unique and should be evaluated at the appropriate time. I believe strongly in fiscal discipline on behalf of taxpayers, and also that talented educators and staff are required to achieve our goals. I would look to enter into agreements with our stakeholders that reflect the best possible balance of these two factors.

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 support compensation increases that are solely aimed at modifying long-term payments such as pension benefits. I believe strongly in fiscal discipline on behalf of taxpayers and would oppose any such proposals. I believe that compensation for Superintendents should be based on their overall job performance, ability to successfully execute against specific goals that benefit the district and the market value of their skills. Compensation decisions for Superintendents or administrators should be systemically considered in my opinion, with specific goals outlined to define what will be considered successful outcomes. Importantly, I believe in a continuous improvement mindset. As part of the review and compensation process, clear feedback should be provided regarding areas that require improvement in the future. Milestones should be set in these areas, and there should be accountability for responding to this feedback and seeking improvements.