Jeanette A. Clark: Candidate for School District 204 School Board of Education
REMEMBER TO VOTE ON APRIL 5! Election Day falls two days after everyone returns from Spring Break!! Hello to the many people who have supported me over the years I have served on the Dist. 204 school board. Without you, I could never have accomplished, or assisted in accomplishing, everything that has been done for kids in Dist. 204!
I was first elected to the school board in 1993. I am running for re-election in this my 4th and final term. It has truly been an honor and privilege to serve you and your children. Whether I was busily engaged in dialogue with the city council on a development issue, pouring over curriculum materials, deciding how best to handle 2,000 new students each year, addressing constituent concerns, or weighing the merits of boundary and referendum proposals, I can honestly say that my focus has always been the best interest of the children and taxpayers of this district. My time spent in your service has been a labor of love, without regret. Thank you for your past support! I need your continued support as we prepare for the upcoming election on April 5th. I stand ready to continue serving you. I will try my best not to disappoint you! Thanks again!
Jeannette A. Clark, Candidate Committee%%%
From: http://www.positivelynaperville.com/election2005candidates.html
Age: 51.
Residence: Naperville.
Family: Husband, Jeff; children, Greg, T.J. and Katie.
Education: Morton West, Berwyn; Morton College, associate's in human services; George Williams College.
Employer: Teaching assistant with hearing-impaired students, SASED.
Political experience: Three-term member, District 204 board; Lauzen education advisory committee, Statewide Alliance Education Committee's Task Force/School Impact Fee Legislation; Alliance PAC Endorsement Committee; Alliance PAC board of trustees.
Community involvement: Parent-teacher association member, volunteer; past president, Brookdale HOA; past president, Homeowners Confederation; Springbrook Prairie master plan review, master thoroughfare plan review process; Naperville Police Department Citizens Advisory Council; Naperville League of Women Voters; National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, five-year member; NOCC steering committee for annual Walk for the Whisper; lector; religious education teacher; Master School Board Member, Citibank Crystal Award � Outstanding Women's Leadership in Community Service.
Q: Do you support the current $130.5 million April referendum measure? Why or why not?
A: Yes, I fully support the referendum. The need for it was presented to and subsequently endorsed by a Citizens Advisory Committee, after four months researching and deliberating the merits of each component. The referendum meets the long-term needs of educating our children. It provides for a high school, centrally located to serve residents from all areas of the district. It provides seats at the middle school level to meet our needs through build-out. It provides money to continue maintaining all 33 buildings at the high standard we as a community expect. It provides for maintaining technology at current levels, while continuing to incorporate technology into curriculum, so our students graduate ready to function in this ever-changing world in which we live. And it provides additional funds specifically set aside for Waubonsie, to address some of the issues that are inevitably present in a 30-year-old building used extensively year-round.
Q: Do you think a third high school is necessary to house incoming students, and if not, how do you propose the district house the incoming students?
A: I believe a third high school is necessary to meet our needs through build-out and beyond. The Citizens Advisory Committee looked at other options that included split shift, extended day scheduling, year-round school, grade level reconfiguration, magnet and charter schools. After deliberation, the committee determined the third high school option was the only one that could consistently house students through build-out and beyond, while providing the appropriate level of education the community expects the district to provide. The committee determined all of the other options fell short in meeting the needs of the community, either because they could not be relied upon to consistently handle enrollment on a continual basis (magnet and charter schools), or because they changed the face of education as we know it in District 204 so extensively that they failed to garner enough support either from the committee, or the community, to be considered feasible.
Q: With the state budget crisis and the future level of education funding up in the air, how should the district help make up the gap with less funds from the state and more students?
A: The district needs to continue presenting a balanced budget for as long as possible, while minimizing the impact on students. That is a tall order, considering school funding comes from a finite number of sources: the state and federal government and local taxpayers. We need to continue scrutinizing the budget, top down, eliminating waste and duplication of effort, to ensure classroom impact is minimal. We need to continue applying for grants to help offset taxpayer burden. Past efforts have secured funds for student services, curriculum, staff development, operations/maintenance and energy savings, to name a few. We need to continue lobbying the state for dollars from the Capital Development Fund and other sources. Targeting these areas first will help minimize the need to look at programming, class size, and other choices that directly impact the classroom, should the state continue to fall short in meeting its constitutional mandate to fund schools.
03/23/05 From: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/election/jclark.htm
AURORA � A little less than half of the candidates running for seats on the Indian Prairie School Board are going to walk away happy Tuesday night.
Nine candidates are vying for four seats on the board, including three incumbents. Current board President Kathi Baldwin is not seeking another term.
Much of the discussion among candidates has centered on the $130.5 million referendum measure voters also will find on the ballot Tuesday.
“I believe we have done the best we could do with the numbers we were faced with every year,” said incumbent Jeannette Clark, who has served three terms on the board.
“We have always had seats for students and kept the bond and interest rate as stable as we could in an effort to make it as affordable for taxpayers as possible.”
Jim Box and Bruce Glawe are the other two incumbent candidates. Glawe was appointed to the board in December to fill a vacancy, and Box is serving his first term on the board.
Challenger Eve Kochman worked in the Indian Prairie and West Aurora districts as a school social worker.
“I think the district did really well for the most part of handling the growth with the blip of the freshman centers not being the best planning,” Kochman said. “Our schools are well utilized, every classroom is always being used at the middle school level.”
Voters approved the freshman centers as part of a 2001 referendum to help ease crowding at Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools. Now, the district is asking voters to approve a referendum to build a third high school.
Chuck Kern is the only board candidate not supporting the referendum.
“I wanted a third high school in 2001 and I think the freshman centers were a big mistake,” said Kern, who was part of a Citizens Advisory Committee which recommended the current referendum measure. However, he now thinks the decision about the third high school was made too quickly.
Mark Mileusnic, who attended all the Citizens Advisory Committee meetings, said the need for the high school is evident.
“The kids are here,” Mileusnic said. “We need to have the seats, and we need to have adequate facilities and services for those kids.”
Naaman Moorman and John Stephens, both members of the Citizens Advisory Committee, also support the referendum measure.
“I don't know what part of Neuqua Valley or Waubonsie Valley we would put 1,000 more students in,” Stephens said. ” . . . We need room somewhere.”
Candidate Christine Vickers has not made her position on the referendum known.
04/03/05 From: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/city/a03ipcand.htm
The teachers union has endorsed the following candidates for School Board.
Citizens for Classrooms support the following District 204 School Board Candidates: Jim Box, Jeanette A. Clark, Bruce W. Glawe, Eve Kochman, Mark Mileusnic, Naaman H. Moorman, John K. Stephens