The following is a list of some of the contributions that I have made to the District:
- Requested Bidding of Electric and Natural Gas utilities resulting in considerable annual savings.
- Identified unnecessary phone lines resulting in savings
- Helped turn around $12 million deficit without a referendum
- Voted to restore programs and services cut due to failed referendum
- Initiated the televising of board meetings for local access TV
- Instrumental in improving transparency by proposing financial documents including contracts be published on the district web site
- Voted and fought against extending debt to future generations
- Even though I voted against the bond issue I made sure that it was bank qualified saving the taxpayers $450,000 over the life of the bond.
- Created New Bidding Policy stronger than the State of Illinois School Code
- Recommended multiple energy saving ideas
- Supported publishing our board meeting packet on the District web site
- Through strong fiscal management supported lowering class sizes and setting target class sizes
- Supported Improved health and nutritional value of lunches
- Fought for long term planning with at least 5 year financial forecasts. It is critical to have a long term perspective so we can avoid cuts to important programs and services
- Voted against the 15% tax levy
- Voted against signing a 5 year bus lease proposal which saved $82,000. This was a 3-4 vote.
- Saved the district $300,000 to $600,000 per year by requesting Workman's Compensation Insurance be bid out. (We could have saved this in previous years had the majority of the board supported bidding of services. Another cost saving opportunity of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually was lost when the district waited too long to bid our Property and Casualty insurance. Had we had a finance committee which I have proposed multiple times this probably would not have happened.)
- Encouraged intergovernmental cooperation with other local taxing bodies including the park district, villages, and other districts.
- Encouraged dialogue between the public and private schools. I believe every school's success in our community will benefit everyonel.
- Identified billing problems which resulted in a savings to the district
- Strong supporter of staff development
- Brought up real and perceived inequity between schools resulting in more awareness and changes to policies
- Supported eliminating rotating start times
- Fought against insider hiring
- Pushed for air quality testing for Paddock
- Only board member to fight against overnight hotel stays in Chicago for the annual convention
- Voted to approve SEIU and ESPA contracts
- Voted against CTC contract in 2006. I strongly support the excellent work of our teachers however, I believed that the increase was out of line with our income and I did not support the loss of three instructional days for our children.
- Pushed for in house staff to handle carpet installation for a 7.5% savings
- As Board President reduced legal fees
- 100% Board Meeting Attendance
- Visited all schools mutiple times during the past four years
- Endorsed in 2005 and 2009 by the Daily Herald. Endorsed by the Countryside newspaper in 2005.
Do cost savings affect the quality of education? Yes. Cost saving efforts directly affect what programs and staffing levels we can afford. Each dollar saved can go right into the classroom for reducing class size, upgrading educational tools, and providing specialized support staff.
