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The seven candidates for four open seats on the Oswego School District 308 Board of Education offered their thoughts on how to improve the school district’s financial situation during a recent online candidate forum hosted by the district’s PEGS (Parents for Education and Global Success) organization.
Early voting is now underway in the election that is set for April 6.
The candidates for four opens seats on the board are: Keisha Earl of Oswego, Eugene Gatewood of Aurora, Katie Heiden of Oswego, Jennifer Johnson of Oswego, Dr. Donna Marino of Aurora, LaTonya Simelton of Oswego and Eulalia Valdez of Oswego.
Over the past few years. the current Board of Education has imposed a series of budget cuts and fee hikes in an effort to balance its budget. School district voters, meanwhile, have rejected three school district tax hike referendums that would have boosted revenues for the district.
Marino noted the current Board of Education has made budget cuts and added, “I don’t really see where we can cut much more.”
“I’m all for evaluating where everything is going and being transparent to our community about that, but what I really think what we need to look for is how to produce more revenue,” she said.
Marino suggest the district could consider seeking corporate sponsorships to help pay for selected programs, including athletics and art.
Marino also noted the district has a lobbyist in Springfield and suggested the district could contract with a lobbyist to seek funding from the federal government.
Marino noted that part of the reason she decided to run for the board is to help the district reach its goal of providing all of its students with a world-class education.
Valdez stressed the need for the district to have a strategic plan that the board could use in deciding how it spends federal, state and local tax revenues.
We have to have a vision in order to have a path that will guide us to our goals,” Valdez said.
Simelton noted the district has found itself in very difficult financial circumstance for “quite a long time.”
“If these decisions were easy, they would have been solved already,” she said.
Simelton said she believes residents have a responsibility as owners of the school district.
“What are our roles and responsibilities as it relates to what we need to do to make sure we are being stable in our financial stewardship?” Simelton said. “It is all of our responsibilities. When we make decisions, we need to make sure they are backed up with data. Let’s not make decisions about whether we levy or not without knowing or understanding where we are, whether it is three years from now or five years from now.”
Gatewood said he believes educating the community at large about how the schools are financed is paramount.
“There is literally almost a one-to-one correlation with property values and the quality of our school system,” he added.
Touting the need to diversify the school district’s tax base, Gatewood said close to 80% of the district’s revenue currently is “completely on the backs” of local taxpayers. Meanwhile, he noted, the power to diversify is in the hands of local government.
“We have to figure out how we can do public-private partnerships. There are other (school) districts in the city, in the state and across the country that are using grants,” he said.
Gatewood noted the district has expanded its fundraising efforts, but suggested more could be done to seek corporate sponsorships and possibly leasing district facilities.
“But that will take time,” he said. “We have to figure out what we are going to do to plug the dam while we allow time for these other revenue streams to come in.”
Citing her background as a local business owner, Heiden said she would bring “innovative and creative” ideas for program creation that would help generate revenue for the district.
“Being a business owner, I know it’s important to do three things: create revenue, save on operational costs and cut your liabilities down,” she said.
Earl said as a board member she would do her part “to make sure the district pursues efforts to be fiscally responsible and financially stable.”
“In these economic challenging times, most people have had to closely monitor their spending to make changes to assure fiscal stability,” she said. “I feel that we should expect the same from the board.”
Earl noted the district already is spending about $12,000 to educate each of its students, far less than other area district that are spending $17,000 to $18,000.
Johnson said as a board member she would work to make sure the board considers what is best for all of the district’s students.
“Whether we are making a decision about curriculum or finances or whether we are making a decision about taking on a study that costs ‘X’ amount of dollars, how do we tie it to an educational outcome?” she said.
Johnson also questioned why the district is not receiving more in state funding under the current evidence-based funding formula.
She said she has made 17 phone calls to Springfield and has yet to get a satisfactory answer.
For early voting information, residents of the Kendall County portion of the school district can visit the Kendall County Clerk’s website at co.kendall.il.us. The district’s Will County residents can visit the Will County Clerk’s website at thewillcountyclerk.com/elections/early-voting/#early, and the district’s Kane County residents can visit the Kane County Clerk’s website at kanecountyclerk.org/Elections/Pages/Early-Voting.aspx.