William Geheren, Huntley School District 158 Board of Education election questionnaire

Full Name: William Geheren

What office are you seeking? Huntley School District 158 Board of Education

What is your political party? No Affiliation

What is your current age? 54

Occupation and Employer: Air Management Services - Marketing and Sales

What offices, if any, have you previously held? Board of Education District 158

City: Huntley

Campaign Website: https://www.facebook.com/geheren158

Education: St. Mary’s University - Bachelors - Marketing, Management and Accounting

Community involvement: Board of Education, Club 400 Marketing and PR

Marital status/Immediate family: Married (Mia), Michael (27), Thomas (18), Daniel (15)

Why are you running for office?

I am running to be a part of making decisions for a great school district for all parties - students, teachers, parents, taxpayers, administration and staff.

What makes you qualified for the office you’re seeking?

I have part of the board for the past 12 years and have helped the district become one of the best in the state and even recognized throughout the country.

Have you sought and/or received any training to run for your local school board? If so, from whom?

No

Would you propose any changes to the curriculum? If so, what?

There is a great process in place where the curriculum leaders and teachers identify the curriculum needs and taxpayers have the opportunity to review the curriculum before a new textbook is adopted. There is also a great process of reviewing new proposed courses and determining which courses to sunset. So no.

Are LGBTQ students treated fairly in your district?

I believe they are, but that we can and should always get better. The district is responding as quickly as possible, but some of the LGBTQ behaviors are very new.

What is your assessment of how Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is handled in your school district?

We have come a long way in the past few years. As the parent of an African American student who had many issues in school, I have witnessed the growth and focus in these areas. We can and will always do more in these areas.

Do you believe the district needs to make any changes to improve DEI in your district?

All aspects of DEI are looked at and focused on through the strategic plan. One area for example is hiring people who are more reflective of the student population. Of course part of that depends on the pools of candidates.

Are teachers in your district paid adequately now and in retirement?

Yes. We have worked very hard over the past 12 years to move our salary scale to be more in line and sometimes even higher than neighboring districts.

Would you support changes to teacher pay scales? If so, how?

I am always open to new ideas on the pay scale, keeping in mind that we are dealing with limited resources in uncertain times.

What is your assessment of the district superintendent’s compensation?

I believe our superintendents compensation is where it needs to be. In other words, it is a fair compensation package for a superintendent who deserves it and is someone we want to keep happy for the long-term.

Would you make any changes to how the district superintendent is compensated?

The one change we made that has been very effective is to tie bonus money to achieving goals from the strategic plan. Otherwise, I believe we are paying the leader of our district a fair wage.

Do you support the current superintendent? Please explain.

Yes. As one the seven people who hired our superintendent after an exhaustive search, I couldn’t be happier with our decision. His performance was greater than anticipated before Covid, but his calm and steady demeanor throughout the worst pandemic we have even seen was A+ work.

Should schools in your district adopt and teach sex education according to the National Sex Education Standards? Please explain.

Yes, unless the standards become outrageous, we should follow and tweak where appropriate. This is a hot button as people believe much of the education should happen at home, but because of the explosion of the tik tok and other social media, it is imperative that all students learn about sex education as they become the appropriate age.

What is your assessment of how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled locally?

As I mentioned before, I think the leadership of the district and my colleagues on the board did a great job, especially given the information and direction from the “experts”. Of course, no one from the school board or district wanted kids to learn from outside of school. To manage the sheer number of students in the district without total chaos, happened. I would also say, the plan to catch students up is also been very effective.

What did you learn from the pandemic?

Our country has lost decorum. Some of the hate and vitriol that was channeled to the board and administration was very disappointing on a humanistic level. I learned that many people have their own agenda and it doesn’t necessarily coincide with what is best for children and students.

Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?

Our taxes in Illinois are outrageously high. Also, many other states do not use property taxes to pay the bills for their districts. That said, a better questions is whether or not the district is fiscally responsible. Which again we are one of the best performing districts in the state dollar for dollar.

Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?

Nothing outside of the annual tax levy, unless there was a reason that made the district a better place to teach and learn.

Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?

There is not anything in the budget that can be cut without repercussions. We have tried (successfully) for the part 12 years to minimize reductions in force or teacher layoffs. This is because we hire what needs and move people if the need is eliminated.

Will you accept the voters’ decision in your race on Election Day?

Yes

What is your position on open, transparent government?

It is key to being successful. It is even more imperative now with social media. As someone from outside the education field, I have been amazed at how little is not not shared with the public and it basically comes down to laws that prohibit sharing information about children or employees.

Do you support the Freedom of Information Act and citizens’ ability to freely access government records?

I do, but I would like to see it amended a little. Over the years, requests (like video surveillance) can be very expensive and tedious. If the request is for a valid reason, no problem. Otherwise it is difficult to be fiscally responsible with some of the requests.