6 candidates face off for Geneva school board

GENEVA – Six hopefuls for the Geneva District 304 school board are vying for three four-year terms in the April 5 general election.

Incumbents Mary Stith, Kelly Nowak and Leslie Juby and challengers Robert Cabeen, George Jackowiec and Michael McCormick spoke to a wide range of issues at a candidate forum this week hosted by Geneva Taxpayers For Accountability and Controlled Taxes and Spending.

Differences between the candidates quickly became apparent, as Jackowiec and McCormick pointedly criticized the incumbents for the district’s finances and spending. Jackowiec said the district had “the highest cost” of transportation when compared to other districts.

“I would [be] interested in seeing ... if the buy and hold [buses] operation would save us money,” Jackowiec said.

McCormick also questioned the district’s policy of buying new school buses every year.

“The budget is something I think gets in people’s heads as I go around the community and talk,” McCormick said. “I think it’s hard. There’s a lot of people in our community that are having a hard time buying a car and they see brand-new buses going around all the time.”

McCormick said in not considering the other costs, the district is not taking into account insurance and liability. In the bus buy-back program, the district buys new buses from a supplier, and then after a year or two of use, the company buys them back and the district gets more new buses.

Nowak countered that the program was “very cost-effective” and that makes it worth it.

“I am really less concerned with how the program looks than how it is working,” Nowak said.

Nowak, Stith and Juby noted the state would be cutting its transportation funding, which would open up new discussions about the program and look at other options. Cabeen countered that the program is cost-effective and it protects children being driven to school in new buses with new tires and safety features.

“The district gets more than 90 percent of the cost of those buses refunded back after a year,” Cabeen said. “And they drive them hard. They get a lot of bang for the buck.”

Stith added that the district having drivers as employees was also another level of safety for students.

“We have our own drivers,” Stith said. “They are the first people who see our kids in the morning and last people to see them at night.”

But in the next round of questions, McCormick took issue with Nowak’s response.

“You can tell who the incumbents are because with all due respect, we don’t have the same access to information that you do and it has not been given to us,” McCormick said. “Kelly, you said you’re not concerned about appearances and I think that’s what a lot of people here are concerned about. You don’t care about appearances, you don’t care what we think.”