Angela Wilcox: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Angela Wilcox

City: Barrington Hills

Office sought: Barrington District 220 Board of Education

Age: 44

Family: James Wilcox - Physician, Wilcox Family Medicine in Barrington; Abigail Wilcox, District 220 middle school student; Barrett Wilcox, District 220 middle school student

Occupation: Intellectual Property Attorney - President, Wilcox IP, PC in Chicago

Education: DePaul College of Law, JD; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, BS & BA

Civic involvement:

• Barrington Community Unit School District 220 Board of Education Member

• Chair Person of Policy Committee, Safety & Security Committee, Insurance Committee

• Barrington Children's Charities, Board Member

• Barrington Play Reader's Group

• Barrington Junior Women's Club, Former Committee Head

• Former Countryside PTO, Committee Head

• Previous elected offices held: Barrington Community Unit School District 220 Board of Education Member

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? Yes, 2015.

Website:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaWilcoxforDistrict220/

Twitter:

Issue questions

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

At the forefront of District 220 issues are school safety and security, building maintenance, student mental health, social and emotional health, "vaping" education, responsible social media use, and, as always, maintaining a balanced budget. Regarding school safety and security, the Board is constantly engaged in discussions and proposals for safety and security improvements in our schools. The District formed a Safety and Security Committee, of which I am a co-chairperson from the Board. The Committee consists of two Board Members, the Superintendent, administrators, teachers, police officers and fire fighters from our District. In the upcoming Referendum, a significant portion of the requested funds will go to safety and security improvements in all of our schools. Regarding building maintenance, the Board works to preserve our buildings every summer with dedicated summer projects. A significant portion of the requested funds in the upcoming Referendum will also be dedicated to building maintenance projects. At all levels, from elementary to high school, our District's curriculum includes topics concerning social and emotional health, maintaining a healthy body and body image, and digital citizenship. We also partner with experts and community organizations to provide access to additional learning opportunities in these areas. These learning opportunities are offered to both students and parents alike. As to balancing the budget, the Board has successfully passed a balanced budget every year I have served on the Board. This is, and has been, a high priority for our District, as is maintaining our AAA Bond Rating.

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 proud of District 220's track record of preparing students for life beyond Barrington High School. District 220 is consistently ranked among the top 20 best schools in Illinois, and just last year, Barrington was ranked THE number 1 public school in Illinois by 24/7 Wall Street. Of course, the District is constantly seeking opportunities to improve the educational environment for our students. These efforts include providing a wide variety of continued education programs for our teachers, early intervention before students fall behind, innovative programing for all of our students, challenging curriculum, and continuity of curriculum between school levels. Since joining the Board, there has also been a concentrated effort through our administrators to identify gifted and extended students, and adjust their curriculum to create challenging growth opportunities within their identified capabilities, allowing for even greater success beyond Barrington High School.

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 220 will present a referendum on the Spring ballot to address certain security upgrades, building upkeep and facilities improvements. Many of the items addressed by the referendum are important upgrades to the District, however, I did not vote in favor of this referendum. I would have supported a referendum for a lower amount, as all data we accumulated on the topic led to the same conclusion - the majority of shareholders of District 220 would support a referendum that kept taxes neutral as we rolled off old debt, but would not support a tax increase. This data included a telephone survey, internet survey and community volunteer group (thank you to all who volunteered!). The current referendum, however, provides for a tax increase, which I did not support.

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 spent much of 2017 and 2018 on a two person Board Committee that negotiated a new contract for the BSEO. Despite the significant time spent negotiating this agreement, which takes the District through 2021, the meetings were collaborative and respectful. Each side brought their issues to the table, and we worked through reasonable options and alternatives to address each issue in turn. I had never participated in a collective bargaining negotiation before, but my biggest takeaway from this particular negotiation was that when both sides come to the table with an expectation to listen to the other party - not simply to set forth their own agenda - it is possible to come to creative solutions that satisfy both sides.

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. However, I do believe that District employees should be fairly compensated so that we can hire and maintain an excellent staff to run our District. Regarding, specifically, the Superintendent, our current Superintendent, Dr. Harris, was nearing retirement in 2016, and the Board elected to extend Dr. Harris's contract - not in order to boost pension benefits - but in order to retain a skilled and dedicated leader of our 11 schools. Dr. Harris's current contract ends in 2021, and is structured as a 'performance based' agreement, providing clear and extensive performance goals which are evaluated yearly through defined performance indicators. Further, in order to avoid any unintended "pension boosts," Dr. Harris's contract includes a 'claw back' of any retirement benefits paid by the District in the event Dr. Harris's performance does not meet the defined parameters of the agreement.