From: http://www.JohnStephens.org
Experience: “My years in Naperville since 1965, coupled with my finance education and business experience as the former owner of a software distributor, will bring new and refreshing ideas to the Board. My 'day job' involves helping large corporations take cost out of their business processes.”
NO PARENT LEFT BEHIND… % Our Parents need to be in step with the District..and when they are...I'll be satisfied! % “As parents, our schedules change on a daily basis, both at work and at home. One minute a plan is set, and the next minute it's fluid. As parents we want to be more involved in the school activities of our children but that's not always the outcome. In a No Parent Left Behind world, the School District would use today's current technology to instantly connect with every parent in the district to broadcast messages of importance or need. The communication method of choice can then be many….paper, computer email, AIM, text messaging, blackberry, beeper, etc. This enables a new level of connection!”
The Referendum: % It's all about seats for children!! % I don't believe in 'SOUND BITES' when we discuss the options! I support the passing of the Referendum…110%!
As a member of the Citizens Advisory Board for the Referendum, I was fortunate to work with 42 other IPSD parents, as well as the Administration and School Board members.
The facts…in IPSD 204, if you add up the CURRENT enrollment in our 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, that number of CURRENT students is 2,000 greater than the current high school population at Waubonsie and Neuqua combined!! So the issue of providing a quality education to our children doesn't only involve the enrollment at the high schools today, but our children currently enrolled in our elementary schools! With a 3rd high school, our elementary children will benefit from a 50% increase in positions on all sports team, fine arts groups, industrial arts programs, etc.
The Citizens Advisory Committee recommended that Indian Prairie School District 204 ask for the following in its $130.5 million referendum measure in April:
The tax calculator for the computing of your future tax bill increases as a result of passing the Referendum
http://www.ipsd.org/ref_tax_calculator.asp
John Stephens: Candidate for School District 204 Board of Education
Education:
Why am I running for the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board?
What are my �Pillars of Improvement� for 204?
To learn more or to speak with me before April 5th Website: http://www.JohnStephens.org %%% John STEPHENS For 204
Age:
Residence: Naperville
Family: Married 23 years; four children.
Education: Naperville North and Central high schools, class of 1975; Iowa State University, bachelor of science, finance and economics, 1979.
Employer: Sales manager, Oracle Corp., Chicago.
Political experience: Indian Prairie School District 204 citizens advisory board.
Community involvement: DePauw University Genesis Group; DePauw Parents Board; Brighton Ridge Homeowners.
Q: Do you support the current $130.5 million April referendum measure? Why or why not?
A: The $130.5 million referendum provides resources fore each and every school in the district and addresses the critical need for middle and high school classroom seats. As a member of the citizens advisory board, we examined multiple solutions, multiple budgets, and multiple components of the referendum.
The final recommendation of funds for specific maintenance at WVHS, technology for all schools, O&M for preventative capital projects and a third high school were examined and debated for weeks. The benefits of this referendum reach across the district and will affect all parents and students for years in the future.
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: Today when we add up the third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade enrollment numbers, it's over 2,000 children greater than the current high school population in the district. By 2008, there will be over 4,000 more high school students in the district than in 2000. These enrollment figures are easily formulated because the students are already in the District 204 schools. We know right now that we have 2,316 first-graders in the system and that they will advance and grow.
There are alternatives to building a third high school, but as a member of the citizens advisory board, those alternatives of installing trailers, or operating under split shifts at the high school level only, appeared very risky for the parents and homeowners in 204. Both of these alternatives also have costs associated with them.
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: First off, we need to insure that the district is only educating those children that officially reside in the district. Paying for the education of “out of towners” is a drain on the District 204 taxpayers.
Second, we need to develop contingency plans using models that look out four to five years, and determine what program cuts or added efficiencies need to be initiated today. Realizing that the majority of the expenses are fixed, the district must focus on small amounts of saving at every turn. In doing this, the district also needs to examine if offsetting some of the expenses with activity fees is appropriate.
Lastly, state and federal grants, plus support from local corporations, must be expanded. The district isn't looking for handouts since a strong, progressive school district benefits all.
03/23/05 From: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/election/stephens.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