Mathew Gray: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Mathew W Gray

City: Barrington

Office sought: Board of Education Member

Age: 41

Family: Wife and three children

Occupation: Self Employed

Education: BA Business, UW-Whitewater

Civic involvement: Recent Board Member of Barrington Youth and Family Services

Previous elected offices held: None

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected?

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Issue questions

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

At this time I think the biggest issue facing Barrington 220 is aging infrastructure. I believe the current board has done a great job working through a process to identify these issues and maintain communication to the community. I intend to follow through with them on this process over the the next 4 years.

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?

The district provides students a great foundation for their future and I believe this is what makes Barrington 220 a destination school district for many. I think we have to work hard on maintaining this position Barrington 220 has.

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.

The biggest budget issue is contingent on passing the Referendum on April 2nd, which I support. If passed a lot of work will go into how that money will actually be spent to improve the facilities in the district, if not passed the School Board will have to go back to the drawing board and have tough decisions on how to balance deferred maintenance issues with operating budgets. As far as any programs that need to be considered for reduction or elimination I would consider cuts that don't impact the quality of education provided to students. I would first focus on cuts that impact environments outside of the classroom.

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?

Luckily the teacher contract is good through 2023 and the Classified contract is good through 2021. Having said that, as business owner I believe you have to understand what the actual competitive market rate is for the talent you need or want. Anything above that becomes marginally more wasteful and anything below that you start sacrificing quality.

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, you should be paying the competitive pay rate for the expected time an employee is working not for the time they are not working.